


Surface

by OfEndlessWonder, sgvirtualseason



Series: Supergirl Virtual Season [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animated GIFs, Bisexual Female Character, Collaboration, Cover Art, Digital Art, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Femslash, Gifset, Journalism, Kissing, Lesbian Character, Memory Alteration, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-11-30 12:27:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11463600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfEndlessWonder/pseuds/OfEndlessWonder, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgvirtualseason/pseuds/sgvirtualseason
Summary: An anti-alien article makes its way onto the front page of CatCo magazine, prompting Alex to investigate. Worried she’s a potential suspect, Cat decides a little distance from National City can only be a good thing, but with Kara refusing to let her go alone, where will the two of them end up?





	1. Act I

A stunning piece of art to start us off right from @ofpensandcupcakes. Direct your praise to the comments below or [Tumblr ask](http://ofpensandcupcakes.tumblr.com/ask). 


	2. Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara adjusts to being temporarily powerless after her run-in with Zatanna, with a lot of help from Alex. Cat, still shaken from Kara’s kidnapping, shuts herself off from the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @xy0009 brings us this week’s pretty with the title image: ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

**ACT I**

Kara woke to the steady sound of beeping.

It took far longer than it should have to realize it matched the rhythm of her heart thudding quietly in her chest.

She remembered Maggie coming to her rescue but not much else, and part of her wondered whether the detective might have taken her somewhere other than the DEO.

The thin sheets that covered her felt rough against her skin, the sharp, sterile smell of antiseptic heavy in the air. It was a scent she recognized well, and her whole body relaxed when she opened her eyes to the medical bay she’d wound up in more times than she could count since coming out as Supergirl.

This time felt different, though. She couldn’t pinpoint why, until her sister’s voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.

“You’re awake.” The heart monitor beeped wildly for several long seconds, and Alex shot her a tired smile when Kara turned to see her, settled on a hard plastic chair at her bedside.

“And I’m powerless,” Kara said with a sigh, straining but unable to hear a thing outside these four walls. The discomfort in her left arm when she shifted on the bed only confirmed it, as she glanced down to a needle piercing her skin.

She had only lost her powers once before, and it wasn’t a day she remembered fondly. She recalled the agony of feeling her bone splinter and break, the utter desolation that had swirled through her gut as she’d realized she was helpless, her hands soaked with blood from a man she had been unable to save.

Kara had watched the life drain from his eyes, heard the sobbing of his daughter, and known that had she had her powers, she might’ve been able to save him.

She prayed the city would stay safe for the next few days, until she was decidedly less human. She thought of Cadmus, of the threat that loomed on the horizon, and decided her prayers would likely go unanswered.

“Little bit,” Alex agreed as she shifted to set her feet on the floor. She held a battered copy of _Harry Potter_ in her hands, and Kara’s nose wrinkled in distaste as her sister folded down the page to keep her place – she’d always berated Alex for not treating her books with respect when they were younger. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” Kara wiggled on the bed as she sat up, relieved when she didn’t feel any pain aside from a slight tugging in her arm from the IV. “Did it work? Is she gone?”

“Yeah, she’s gone.”

Kara sagged with relief, ignoring the look of disapproval on her sister’s face.

“You’re lucky the power it took didn’t kill you.”

“But it didn’t, and I’m fine. Well…” She glanced down at the needle in her arm, perversely fascinated by the way it was embedded into her flesh. “Mostly fine.”

“We’re not sure how long your powers will be out for,” Alex told her, and Kara already regretted that she wouldn’t be able to back Alex up in her continued hunt for Jeremiah for the next few days.

How far would Alex go without Kara there to stop her, to pull her back from the edge Alex had been teetering on recently? She was terrified of the chaos that might erupt when Alex finally snapped. Kara could scarcely imagine what her sister had gone through while she was missing, doubting it would have helped her state of her mind.

“You were in a pretty bad way when we found you,” Alex continued, the haunted look in her eyes making Kara wonder if Alex had thought for a moment she might be dead. “It doesn’t _look_ like there’s any lasting damage or serious injuries, but you should still take it easy for a while. There’s lots of bedrest and sunbathing in your future.”

“Yay,” Kara muttered, heavy on the sarcasm, because they both knew she hated being stuck with little to do.

“I mean it, Kara. You need to get some rest. With Myriad, and now Cadmus… you’ve been stretching yourself thin. The last thing we need is for you to burn yourself out.”

“Little late for that.” She stared with some resentment at the needle once again. “Maybe I should just sit under the sun lamps for a while.”

“You’re human right now. You’d probably get skin cancer.” Kara snorted, and Alex managed a small smile.

“Is Cat okay?” Kara asked, noticing she wasn’t by her bedside.

“She’s okay,” Alex assured her, but there was something in the way her sister’s mouth twisted that made Kara wonder if Alex was telling the whole truth. She decided to let it go – for now. “Now, how about I take you home and we order takeout and watch some Netflix? You still owe me two episodes of _Doctor Who_.” Kara winced. She’d hoped Alex would have forgotten about that.

“I don’t need a babysitter, if you’d rather spend the night doing something else.” Kara tried to sound nonchalant, but it had been a while since the two of them had managed to spend some time together outside of digging into Cadmus, and Kara missed their sister nights.

“Please, you definitely need a babysitter,” Alex scoffed. “You sliced your finger open, caught a cold, _and_ broke a bone within what, two hours of losing your powers last time?” Kara glowered. “You have no idea how to be human.”

“Yes I _do_.” Alex’s smile broadened, and she shook her head wryly. “I do!”

“Nope, you don’t, but that’s okay because I’ll be around to make sure you don’t injure yourself too badly.” Alex pushed herself up and reached down for a bag that sat beside her feet – Kara had barely three seconds to react before it was flung her way.

Without her usual reflexes, it hit her square in the face, and she grunted as Alex’s laughter rang loud in her ears.

“You’re supposed to be looking after me!” Kara sputtered, the bag falling onto her chest to reveal a pile of her clothes folded neatly within.

“I am looking after you. I brought you clean clothes from your locker to change into.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” Alex chuckled before reaching for Kara’s arm. “C’mere, I’ll take your IV out and then you can get showered and changed and I’ll meet you out front in a bit.”

***

Alex needed coffee.

She made her way towards the DEO’s breakroom, which was essentially just a room with a fridge, coffee machine, and handful of chairs. She was used to seeing other agents milling in and out of the room – most couldn’t get through a shift without a healthy dose of caffeine – but what she _hadn’t_ expected to stumble upon was a sleeping Maggie Sawyer.

She was curled up on one of the chairs, her head pillowed on her arms and face relaxed. Alex marveled at how effortlessly beautiful Maggie looked even in yesterday’s crumpled clothes, her hair mussed and ash smudged on one cheek.

Alex had also slept in yesterday’s clothes, but she was sure she looked a mess.

She was surprised Maggie was still here. Alex hadn’t exactly made her feel welcome around these parts the last time they’d spoken, and after seeing the lengths Maggie had gone to to save her sister, Alex felt a little guilty about having her bugged.

With each passing hour Alex grew more convinced that Maggie couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Cadmus, not after the past few days. Maggie had only wanted to help, but Alex had let her panic get the better of her and kept Maggie at arm’s length, instead.

It was her default setting, after all – push away anyone that got too close. And Maggie… Maggie had the potential to yank down every single one of her walls with a single disarming smile.

Alex wavered between letting Maggie sleep and waking her up – the angle her neck was at did _not_ look comfortable – but was saved having to make a decision as J’onn wandered into the room.

“Kara’s awake?” he asked when he noticed Alex, a worried look in his eye that Alex knew wouldn’t lift until Kara was safely home and resting.

“Awake and none the worse for wear,” Alex confirmed.

“Good.” J’onn glanced at Maggie and smiled. “She refused to leave until she was assured that Supergirl was okay. I told her we probably wouldn’t know anything for a while, and she just asked if there was somewhere she could wait.”

Alex laughed softly because yeah, that sure sounded like the Maggie she was getting to know.

“Yet another name to add to the long list of people who know Supergirl’s real name.”

Alex winced, remembering Maggie’s face when Alex had raced to her side in that hangar and found her cradling the body of her sister, and before Maggie had opened her mouth it had been clear that she _knew_.

Alex wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Kara wouldn’t have revealed herself if she’d had any other choice, and Maggie had certainly proved her worth by saving Kara, and Alex _wanted_ to trust her… she just wasn’t sure if she could, not yet.

Cadmus had wormed their way so far into Alex’s life that she wasn’t sure who she _could_ trust anymore, no matter how pretty they were when they smiled.

“She’ll need to do the paperwork,” J’onn continued, and Alex nodded. “I trust you can take care of that? I think she’ll be more receptive to your familiar face than mine when she wakes up.”

“I don’t know about that,” Alex mused, remembering their last icy conversation, the wounded look in Maggie’s eyes as Alex had told her to back off.

They hadn’t spoken much the next time they’d been face to face, as they’d brought Kara back to the DEO. In the truck, Alex had held on to Kara’s hand with a white knuckled grip while Maggie stayed quiet on Kara’s other side, not protesting when Alex left her in the DEO command center as she whisked Kara away for treatment.

She honestly hadn’t expected Maggie to stay.

She was touched that she had.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Agent Danvers,” J’onn said as he made his exit. “If you’ll excuse me… I have a skirt to put on. If you could tell your sister to make a speedy recovery so that I can stop saving people in that damn costume, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll do that.” Alex pressed her lips together to hide a smile, and J’onn grumbled before retreating down the hall. She turned towards Maggie, still slumbering peacefully in front of her. Maggie should know Kara was up and about, so she could go home and rest somewhere more comfortable.

Which reminded her – there was one other person she should probably get in touch with about Kara’s wellbeing.

She grabbed her phone out of her back pocket to fire off a quick text, before she reached for Maggie’s shoulder and gently shook her awake.

***

_Kara’s awake. She’s okay._

Cat clutched her phone with both hands, those four simple words acting like a balm to soothe her worried soul.

She’d barely slept a wink since she’d raced home from the DEO (the only time she _had_ managed to drift off, she’d woken mere minutes later, screaming), too worried about Kara, too worried about the hours she was missing from the past few days.

The paranoia was one of the worst parts, and Cat struggled to remember what it felt like to truly be herself, to not worry that her brain – perhaps her favorite part of herself – had been twisted and warped into something that no longer belonged to her.

It was after sleepless nights filled with dark thoughts that she almost regretted handing over her company, because god knows she could do with a suitable distraction.

James was doing a much better job than she’d be able to manage, though, with the state her head was in. The best thing for her company right now was for Cat to keep her distance.

Distance from CatCo, and more regrettably, distance from Kara, who would surely be safer if she kept Cat at arm’s length.

Cat reminded herself that Kara was safe now, opening her eyes and rereading the message that was still open on her phone, grasping it tightly in her hand.

***

“Sawyer. Sawyer, wake up.” Maggie groaned, half-mumbling ‘just five more minutes’ before she recognized the voice and sat bolt upright, nearly head-butting Alex clean in the nose.

“Sorry,” she muttered, blinking a few times as she smothered a yawn with the back of her hand, eyeing Alex curiously as she wondered what version of her she was going to get today – the one with the warm smile, or the one that had turned her away from this very building when Maggie had only wanted to help. “What time is it?”

“It’s a little after six,” Alex told her after taking a look at the watch on her wrist.

Maggie groaned again. No wonder her neck felt stiff. She was pretty sure she’d been passed out on this stupid chair for at least a couple hours. She winced as she stretched her arms above her head and dropped her feet to the floor, glancing up at Alex, who was still half-leaning over her.

She knew immediately that Kara was okay – Alex looked tired, but there was none of the panic that had been present in her eyes when she had dropped to her knees at Maggie’s side, as Maggie had sagged beneath the sudden unexpected weight of Kara in her arms.

Maggie was still a little shaken from _that_ little reveal.

And what it could mean for both her and Kara in the future.

Neither Danvers sister knew the police corruption Maggie was so vehemently against had spread to her too, and Maggie prayed no one at the precinct, or at Cadmus, ever got wind she was friendly with Supergirl.

It was something she’d worried about before, as she worked at Alex and Supergirl’s side, but now? Now that she knew Kara Danvers – sweet and innocent bubbly Little Danvers – was actually the Girl of Steel?

Now she was fucking terrified.

Because she _liked_ Kara, and she liked Alex, and Maggie didn’t want to hurt either one of them.

She didn’t want to lose them either, though she knew the moment they learned of her deception, of the number of aliens she had handed over to Cadmus, that would be it for her.

She wondered if the looks on their faces would echo that of her father’s on the day he had found out about Eliza Wilky.

Maggie’s stomach roiled, and she felt like she was about to be sick.

“Are you okay?” Alex’s eyes narrowed in concern, and the hand she settled on Maggie’s upper arm felt hot enough to burn through even her trusty windbreaker.

“I’m fine.” But her throat felt tight, and she knew the words weren’t even remotely convincing. “Your sister?”

“She’s fine, thanks to you,” Alex said, gripping Maggie’s arm a little tighter. “I wanted…” Alex looked at her, something dark swimming in her eyes. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted before. I was an asshole, and I shouldn’t have shut you out like that. Without you, my sister might be gone. You saved her, and if I’d let you help me, then maybe we would’ve found her sooner.”

Regret was painted across Alex’s face, from the set of her lips to the dark eyes Maggie was pretty sure she could drown in.

Maggie knew what she should do. She should brush Alex off and stay far, far away from this place, from this _family_. Maggie ruined everything she touched, and she should walk away from Alex Danvers before she destroyed her too.

Except Alex was looking at her with such vulnerability that she couldn’t bear to crush her.

Not now.

Not like this.

“I did what anyone would have done,” Maggie said instead. “I’m just glad that she’s okay. And that you’ll have learned a valuable lesson.”

“Oh yeah? And what lesson would that be?”

“That I’m usually right.” Alex’s hand was still on her arm, her mouth twisted into a smile that Maggie knew could be the death of her. “And maybe the next time a lowly detective offers you her help, you might wanna take it.”

It was a dangerous offer to extend, but Maggie wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Alex Danvers.

Not yet.

“Noted,” Alex replied with a wink, leaning away from Maggie to rock back on her heels. “Drinks on me next time? To make up for it?” Alex glanced nervously at the wall beside Maggie’s head instead of her eyes, and Maggie smiled softly as she thought of their last not-date at the bar.

“I never turn down free drinks, so sure, Danvers. Just give me a call.” Not wanting to overstay her welcome, Maggie pushed herself to her feet, smoothing her hands down her clothes to iron out some of the wrinkles. “Well, I’d better get going, try to catch a couple hours sleep before my shift starts downtown.”

“Uh, about that,” Alex began, another apology blooming behind her eyes. “Before you go… I kind of need you to do some paperwork. You know, ‘cause of–” Alex paused to indicate the door behind her with the jab of her thumb.

“Oh. The _let anything slip and we’ll lock you up and throw away the key_ kind of paperwork?”

“Those would be the ones.”

“Alright. But you’d better direct me to some coffee before you give me anything to read and tell me to sign on the dotted line.”

***

“You want any more?” Alex asked, hands on her hips as she glanced towards the half-full mixing bowl of pancake batter – Kara had insisted she could still eat her usual twelve, _despite_ the loss of her superpowered metabolism.

Kara huddled over her kitchen table with her hands wrapped around her very full stomach. “No, I feel like I’m dying.” She groaned, which just made Alex chuckle from somewhere above her as she began to collect their plates. “Why did you let me do this?”

“I warned you!”

“Not enouuuuugh,” Kara mumbled into the wood pressed against her cheek. “Being human _sucks_.”

“It’s not so bad.” Kara, still getting used to her altered senses, listened as Alex dropped their plates into the sink to soak before padding over to Kara’s chair in socked feet. “Come on, get up.” She poked at Kara’s side until she raised her head. “You’ll hurt your back if you lie like that for too long.”

“Humanity _definitely_ sucks.” Alex rolled her eyes, and Kara allowed herself to be tugged over to the couch, collapsing on top of it and cuddling into Alex’s side.

It had been too long since they’d spent some time together just the two of them, and it was nice to pretend, just for a little while, that everything was okay.

That the world wasn’t trying to cave in around them.

“Kara, can I ask you something?” Alex murmured when they were ten minutes into the episode of _Doctor Who_ Kara had promised her sister, and she turned her head to find Alex looking at her curiously.

“You just did,” Kara snarked back, and was _just_ about quick enough to throw her hands in front of her face to avoid a mouthful of cushion as Alex took a swing at her. “Rude.”

“That’s me. But seriously.” Alex paused, lip caught between her teeth. “What’s going on between you and Cat?” Kara froze, because she’d been doing a really good job of _not_ thinking about that – not thinking about _Cat_ – about soft skin and even softer lips, and the heat of Cat’s mouth against her own.

“Um.” Kara shifted so that her back was pressed against the arm of the couch, hands playing nervously with the frayed edges of the cushion. “What? Why?”

“Because she hightailed it out of the DEO pretty quickly last night, even though I told her you’d be waking up soon. The two of you have been inseparable since we found her,” Alex pointed out. “She was terrified she had something to do with your disappearance, so I thought it was weird that she wouldn’t want to see you. I guess I was just wondering if anything had… happened between the two of you.”

“I…” Kara stared at her hands so hard that had she had her powers, she might’ve set them alight. She chanced a look up at her sister, and found only warm encouragement staring back at her. “Well, we, um, we kind of kissed?”

The words rushed out of Kara quickly, but Alex’s quiet gasp was confirmation enough that she understood.

“You don’t have something to say about that?” Kara pressed, narrowing her eyes at her sister, but Alex merely lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

“Honestly? I kind of expected something like this might happen, sooner rather than later. You’re not exactly subtle when you have feelings for someone, Kara.”

“Oh.” The reveal was a little less climactic than Kara had expected, but she supposed she shouldn’t complain.

“So, what was it like? Was it not good? Is that why she didn’t want to see you? She did kiss you back, right?” Alex’s face shifted from curiosity to something fiercer. “Because I’ve seen the way she looks at you – that feeling is definitely mutual. She didn’t break your heart, did she? Because I can–”

“No, Alex.” Kara cut her sister off with a small shake of her head, a soft smile on her mouth – she hadn’t expected Alex to be so _supportive_ after almost two years of Kara bemoaning Cat’s latest outlandish work request, and she’d assumed it would take some time to talk Alex into being okay with it.

It was a relief to find out Alex was already there.

“It… it was perfect,” Kara continued as she remembered the way it had felt to have Cat in her arms. “But it doesn’t matter how perfect it was, because Cat doesn’t remember it, thanks to Zatanna.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, that sums it up pretty nicely.” Kara sighed, letting the cushion fall from her grip.

“What are you going to do?” Alex asked, shifting to wrap an arm around Kara’s shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug. “Are you going to tell her what happened?”

“I don’t know.” Kara closed her eyes and leaned farther into Alex’s side. “But the more I think about it, the more I realize it shouldn’t have happened in the first place? Like, after everything she’s been through…” She shook her head. “Cadmus have already taken Cat once to try and turn her against Supergirl, but can you imagine what kind of target it would paint on Cat’s back if Cadmus, if _anyone_ , figured out that she was involved _with_ Supergirl? I can’t – I _won’t_ – put her in that much danger. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that she can’t remember. Maybe it’s a sign that it’s not meant to be.”

“Kara…” Alex’s voice was laden with sympathy, and Kara buried her face in the crook of Alex’s shoulder so she didn’t have to see that same emotion reflected in her eyes. “Kara, you deserve to be happy, okay? You deserve to fall in love, to have a normal life–”

“My life isn’t normal though, Alex!” Tears stung at her eyes, and Kara willed them not to fall. “It’s the furthest thing from normal there is. And I want that, I do – fall in love, have a happy family, pretend that nothing else matters – but I _can’t_. Anyone I love is at risk and I can’t… I can’t lose anyone else. I just can’t.”

“You ever think maybe it’s a risk that Cat would be willing to take? That she’s probably thought this through a hundred thousand times over because that’s the kind of woman she is, but she kissed you anyway?”

A part of Kara desperately hoped that might be true, but if she had learned anything since the destruction of Krypton, it was that hope was a dangerous thing indeed.

“Plus,” Alex continued, “she has a kid to think about. You really think she would’ve kissed you back if she wasn’t sure?”

“I don’t… can we talk about something else, please?” She didn’t want to think about Cat, about what she’d almost started in her apartment the other day, about what could have been, had Zatanna not interrupted them and erased the moment from Cat’s memory. “Although wait, you said she was at the DEO?”

“When you were brought in, yup. She, uh… she’d actually been at the DEO for a while.” Kara frowned as Alex refused to look in the eye. “Like I said before, she was kinda terrified that she’d had something to do with you disappearing…”

“She asked to be locked up again,” Kara realized. “Rao, no wonder she didn’t want to see me.”

“I think she was just a little freaked out,” Alex said, reaching out and squeezing one of Kara’s hands. “Maybe you should call her? I already let her know that you were okay.”

Kara raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristically Alex gesture.

“What? I told you, she was scared she’d done something to get you hurt. And she’s been through enough already without worrying whether you were in a coma.”

“You _like_ her,” Kara teased, amazed Cat had managed to win over her sister in such a short time.

“Not as much as you do, apparently,” Alex teased right back, and Kara poked Alex sharply in the side and smirked as she remembered she didn’t have to regulate her strength. “ _Ouch._ ”

“You deserved it.”

“Did not.”

“Did _so_.”

***

Cat hoped she might get better, once Carter was home. Once she had someone around to put on a brave face for, once she had to step up and be a mother. Carter was her sunshine on a rainy day, her reason to drag herself out of bed in the morning.

She never told him the reason she’d sent him to stay with his father, but she suspected that he knew. She tried so hard to shield him, to keep him away from the worst parts of her life, but there was something in his eyes when he looked at her sometimes, a worry that seeped through his skin and made his mouth twist into a frown, and Cat hated to see her son look so concerned.

She’d returned to therapy at his urging, after his refusal to accept any of her new excuses (‘that office is in a bad part of town, Carter, I can’t be photographed _there_ ’, ‘Lena Dunham uses her, what if I run into her in the hall?’, ‘he doesn’t know how to use deodorant’).

There were times she thought it was working, that she was getting better.

And then something would happen – she’d have another dream, or somehow be reminded of her time as a prisoner, and everything would unravel and she’d have to start all over again.

It was frustrating, but she was _trying_.

She had to, for Carter.

She tried not to think about the other person she should be trying for, the woman whose texts and calls she had been purposefully ignoring.

Carter looked at her with disapproval whenever he spotted Cat declining a call from Kara, but he never openly chastised her.

Cat was almost surprised Kara hadn’t materialized on her front doorstep and demanded Cat talk to her, demanded an explanation for her sudden radio silence, though she wasn’t sure she had one Kara would accept. Cat was relieved when yet another day passed by without seeing her – relieved, and _aching_ , because it was a whole new kind of torture to keep her distance, even though she knew it was the safest option for both of them.

Eventually, on the third day since Kara had woken up, Cat received no messages at all.

She wondered if that meant Kara had given up, had accepted that Cat, for whatever reason, was putting an end to the tentative friendship they’d established since her rescue.

It stung more than it should, for Kara to concede so easily.

It shouldn’t, because this was easier, because Cat didn’t think she could turn Kara away if she knocked on her door, would be too tempted to pull her close and never let go.

She’d just… she’d _hoped_ , perhaps naïvely, and definitely foolishly, that her relationship with Kara was headed somewhere… _more_.

But if Kara was willing to let Cat go without a fight, then maybe Cat never meant quite so much to her after all.

The thoughts swirled around and around in her mind until Cat was dizzy from them. She desperately tried to keep them at bay, to keep herself from drowning and stay afloat until she felt strong enough to swim again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For these brilliant editors, much thanks:  
> catherinegrant ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinegrant) | [tumblr](http://catherinegrant.tumblr.com/ask)), @spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)), @Revolos55 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Revolos55/pseuds/Revolos55) | [tumblr](http://saunteringvaguelydownwards.tumblr.com/ask)), and @musetotheworld ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/musetotheworld) | [tumblr](http://musetotheworld.tumblr.com/ask))


	3. Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on Supergirl Virtual Season...

Some Sanvers and what has now become known as The Vending Machine by @supergaysupercat. Direct your praise to the comments below or [Tumblr ask](http://supergaysupercat.tumblr.com/ask). 


	4. Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supergirl finds herself on the front page of CatCo Magazine - but she isn’t painted in a good light. Cat wonders if she’s inadvertently involved, and makes a plan to ensure she can’t hurt Kara again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @xy0009 brings us this week’s pretty with the title image: ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

“This is the greatest night of my life,” Lucy declared as Vasquez deposited another round of drinks on their table. “You are _so_ much better drunk than I ever could have dreamed.”

“I am not _drunk_.” Kara nearly knocked her drink clean over with a dramatic sweep of her arm, and only Vasquez’s quick reflexes stopped it from falling into Kara’s lap. “I’m tipsy.”

“You are definitely drunk,” Lucy told her, amused. “But that’s okay. This is fun.”

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Kara said, taking a sip of her drink and enjoying the way everything felt a little fuzzy – it was different, somehow, to the effect of the rum M’gann had given her. “I was going crazy being stuck at home.”

“We know, ma’am.” Vasquez gave Kara a wry smile. “You tell us that every time you’re at the DEO.”

“Sorryyyy,” Kara drew out the word. “I just hate being human. No offense,” she added hastily. “But it’s just so… boring.”

“Welcome to our lives.” Lucy’s eyes sparkled with warmth, and Kara reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her close, causing a small squeak of surprise.

“I miss you,” Kara told her with a happy sigh. “And you smell really good.”

“Drunk Kara is my favorite Kara,” Lucy said, sounding delighted. “So what’ve you been up to, lady? How’s that new reporting job of yours?”

“Boring.” Kara scrunched up her nose, and both Lucy and Vasquez snorted. “Snapper’s even more disapproving of people taking sick leave than Cat. He’s got me doing nothing but fact checking.”

“Speaking of Cat,” Lucy pounced, “how is she? After everything?”

“She hasn’t stalked into the DEO and asked to be locked up again anytime soon,” Vasquez noted. “I take that as a positive sign.”

“I don’t know how Cat is.” Kara stared at her drink like it held all the answers to every question in the universe. “Not really. She won’t take any of my calls.”

“Oh?” Lucy leaned closer, resting her elbow on the table and settling her chin in the palm of her hand.

“Nope.” Kara had wanted distance to avoid giving in and losing herself in another kiss, but she hadn’t wanted to not see Cat at all. She’d still wanted her close, to make sure she was safe.

The radio silence was killing her, because she didn’t know _why_.

“I haven’t seen her since before I got kidnapped.” Kara said, draining the last of her drink. “You’d think she’d care enough to at least call me back once, right? But noooo.”

“You could go and see her?” Lucy suggested, but Kara quickly shook her head. “Why not?”

“Because last time I was there I–” Kara snapped her mouth shut, eyes widening as she realized what she’d nearly revealed.

“You what?” Lucy pressed. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” Kara squeaked, desperately trying to avoid Lucy’s searching gaze and Vasquez’s curious one. “Nothing happened, but I can’t go over there. The only reason I even know she’s _alive_ is because of Carter. I’m texting a thirteen-year-old for updates on his mom like… how does that even happen? He told me to be patient, that Cat was stubborn and whatever I did to make her ignore me will be forgotten about soon, but I haven’t done anything!”

Well, that Cat could remember, anyway.

Kara didn’t quite share Carter’s faith, but she was glad Cat wasn’t alone, and that she was okay. Maybe she had decided that she didn’t need Kara anymore, that all Kara had done was put her in harm’s way, that maybe she wouldn’t need saving if Supergirl was no longer in her life.

“Maybe you should try calling her again,” Lucy suggested, something wicked in her eyes. “Leave her a voicemail. Tell her you miss her.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Vasquez said in response to Kara’s wistful look. “Maybe you should give Cat a little space.”

“Oh, you’re no fun,” Lucy complained, but Vasquez just smiled.

“Maybe,” Kara agreed with a somber nod. “But I don’t want to think about Cat anymore. I wanna dance. Can we dance?” She didn’t give them a chance to reply, merely grabbing both their wrists and tugging them towards the tiny dance floor of the club.

***

James had grown far too accustomed to being woken from sleep by the frantic buzzing of his phone, never far from his hand, even on the weekend.

If he’d known how much sleep he was going to lose in taking over from Cat, he probably would have given the job offer more consideration.

He reached blindly for the offending device, unlocking his phone with bleary eyes and frowning when he saw the multitude of messages and emails, despite it barely being 5 a.m.

It couldn’t mean anything good.

Warily, James scanned through his emails, wondering what had caused such a media storm overnight. He sat bolt upright in bed when he realized, phone screen opening on the CatCo website to an article he _never_ would have approved had he had the slightest idea it was going to be posted.

Dread settled in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t _just_ online – it was going to be on the goddamn front page of CatCo magazine. The issues had already been printed and sent out for distribution, much too late for him to call them back.

Swearing, James hauled himself out of bed and padded over to his closet, dialing a number on his phone and cradling it between his shoulder and his ear as he tugged on a pair of pants.

“James?” Alex answered on the other end of the line. “Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?” She sounded groggy, and James almost felt bad for waking her up. Between the DEO and worrying about Kara, Alex’s sleep was undoubtedly as precious as his own.

“Sorry, Alex,” he replied, reaching for a shirt and hoping he sounded sincere. “I know it’s early, but… I think we have a problem.”

***

“Thanks for meeting me,” James said, sliding into the seat opposite Alex at Noonan’s, coffee in hand. “You read the article?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s bad.” James ran a hand across his face, because Cat had asked him to do this one thing, to keep obvious anti-alien bias out of the media, and James had failed. If he couldn’t even do that, how could he be trusted at the helm of Cat’s company?

“Cadmus is getting bolder,” Alex said, eyebrows pinched into a frown and lips drawn in a thin line. “This… it’s not good.”

“I’m sorry I called, it’s just Cat… she told me to keep an eye on her. Tell you if I noticed anything off.”

“Let me guess, she told you to go around Kara?” Alex asked, knowingly. “It’s okay, this is important.”

“Does Kara know yet?” She had been so angry when James had posted the article about the President’s rally. He dreaded to think what her reaction to this would be, even though he’d had nothing to do with it.

“Not yet.” Alex shook her head. “I’m pretty sure she’ll be sleeping off one hell of a hangover.”

“Oh yeah.” James smiled as he remembered the Snapchat stories he’d woken up to that morning. Those were significantly better than his mountain of emails, despite the strain that had been lingering between them lately. “Lucy and Vasquez took her out, didn’t they?”

“Mm. She needed something to do, instead of brooding over being powerless.”

“Is she still?” James had seen how torn up Kara had been the last time she’d lost her powers, and hated to think of her feeling like that again.

“They’ll come back.” Alex tried for reassuring, but her smile fell a little flat. “So, how are you thinking of tackling this CatCo thing?”

“I… honestly, I don’t know. I was planning on having an internal investigation, find out where the article originated from, but…”

“You don’t know who you can trust?” Alex offered, and James nodded.

“I was thinking maybe you could look into things?” Alex raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t interrupt. “I know you have your hands full at the DEO but I also know I can trust you to get to the bottom of this. Maybe Winn could help you out with the IT stuff?”

“I can do that. If there is a Cadmus mole somewhere in CatCo, I’ll find them.” The fierce look on Alex’s face made James wonder what she might do when she found that person, if she suspected they could lead to answers about her father.

“I can still help, give you whatever you need.”

“Don’t you have a company to run?” Alex teased. James had missed this – after the drama with Kara, it had been a while since he’d gotten to hang out with Alex.

“I have about three thousand people emailing me for a quote on why CatCo’s done a complete one-eighty on its stance towards Supergirl,” James said before groaning. “But I still want to help.”

“I’ll let you know what we need. But right now I should probably go and break the news to Kara. I don’t think she should see this for the first time on one of the screens at work.”

“Good point,” James agreed, rising to his feet as Alex did the same. “I’ll speak to you later?”

“Yeah.” She offered him another smile, and James walked Alex to the counter to pick up another coffee before he headed for the door. “But for now, just carry on as normal, yeah?”

“I’ll try.”

***

Cat smiled when she heard the door down the hall creak open.

Her excitement at Carter being awake and out of bed was dashed the moment she saw his face. His mouth was twisted down, eyebrows drawn into a frown, and his footsteps loud as he stomped his way through the apartment to reach her where she sat on the couch, his iPad clutched tightly against his chest.

“How _could_ you?” he said before she could even ask what was wrong.

“Carter? I don’t…” She shook her head, desperately trying to think what she might have done to invoke such a reaction in her son. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about!” Cat flinched, his voice louder than she had ever heard.

“I… I’m sorry, Carter, but I don’t…” He squinted down at her for one long moment, his expression softening as he sat next to her and typed his passcode into his iPad.

Cat didn’t have the chance to ask him to explain before her phone rang. Knowing there were only a handful of people who would try to reach her on that number, she reached for it immediately, frowning when she saw it was James – he wouldn’t call unless it was important.

“One second, sweetheart,” she told Carter, before pressing the phone to her ear as she accepted the call. “James?”

“Cat.” There was a tightness in his voice, and Cat knew something was very, very wrong. “I… There’s something you need to know.”

“What is it?” She fought back a wave of internal panic. If it was something to do with Kara, it would be Alex calling and not James. “What’s happened?”

“You told me to keep an eye on you, in case… in case anything got slipped into an issue of CatCo that we wouldn’t normally publish.” Cat’s face paled. “And last night… well. I think you might need to see it for yourself.”

It was then Cat turned her head, letting out a gasp when she saw the screen of her son’s iPad.

It was open on the CatCo homepage, and the headline made her go cold.

_Supergirl: Hero or Menace?_

Below the title was a photo of Kara, suspended in flight above a city that lay in ruin.

Cat recognized the background – numerous photographs of buildings damaged by Supergirl’s many fights over the past few months, blended together in a cacophony of flames and rubble.

Kara herself had a face twisted in fury, hands curled into fists and blood on her knuckles, lasers firing from her eyes. Only instead of aiming at an opponent, she was focused on the ground, at a crowd of bystanders that lined the streets below.

Supergirl looked beautiful and deadly. It was a haunting image, one that would stick in the minds of every person who saw it.

Which was the point of using such a photograph, and Cat’s stomach did a funny little flip as she realized its poignancy, at the message it was trying to send.

To see this kind of anti-alien propaganda front and center on the CatCo website – and presumably on the front page of every issue – made her blood boil.

This was what they’d wanted her for, and they’d gotten it despite her defiance.

“Cat? Are you okay?”

“I’ve seen the article,” Cat said as she reached out her hand, Carter wordlessly handing over his tablet. “Thank you for telling me.” She felt numb, and in the face of more worried questions from James, Cat quickly murmured, “I need to go,” before hanging up the phone.

“Mom?” Carter worried at his bottom lip as he fidgeted with his hands. “Are you okay?”

“I want you to know that I didn’t condone this,” she said, trying to stop her voice from shaking. “You do know that, don’t you?”

“I… I do now, but… the byline, Mom.”

Cat turned her attention to the name written just below the headline. What she saw almost made her heart stop.

Because the name was her own.

 _Cat Grant_ was typed there in bold print, almost like it was _mocking_ her.

Supergirl’s emergence onto the scene had marked her return to journalism after a hiatus stretching several years, the spark reigniting in her soul for a craft she had said her goodbyes to when she’d taken up the mantle of CEO.

The only articles she’d penned since had been with Supergirl at the forefront and this… perversion of her work made her sick to her stomach.

With trembling fingers, she clicked on the link to the rest of the article and began to read.

She was distantly aware of Carter beside her, pressing closer into her side, but the rest of the world seemed very far away because the article – the language, the prose, the flair – it was _her_.

It was the style she’d perfected long ago down to a tee. Someone had either gone to painstaking lengths to learn how to copy her writing, or…

Or she had written it herself.

The iPad fell from her grip, Carter just managing to catch it before it shattered on the floor.

Cat couldn’t recall any gaps in her memory aside from those few hours after Zatanna, but what if Cadmus had a different way of controlling her? Of making her do things without her even realizing? Replacing her memories with more harmless ones, so she never suspected until it was too late?

What if she had been a sleeper agent all this time, slowly unraveling the propaganda plot Cadmus had been so eager to put into place?

Anti-alien messages had been slipping into the media more and more lately, though it was subtle enough that no one would notice unless they were specifically looking for it, but this? This article, splashed across the front page of one of the most read publications in the country?

This was almost like a declaration of war, and Cat couldn’t say with one hundred percent certainty that she wasn’t involved.

That Cadmus might still be in her head made her want to claw at her skull. Instead, she ran a finger over the article, over the words that claimed to be her own.

Each word licked through her veins like fire, because how _dare_ Cadmus have the audacity to do this? To use her name to drag Supergirl through the mud?

No. She would not be used as a pawn to hurt Kara, not like this.

She could return to Alex Danvers, ask to be tossed back into a cell and have the key thrown away, except… she’d put herself through that twice now, and it hadn’t solved a thing.

She was still here, trapped in her apartment and almost too scared to leave, letting Cadmus get the best of her.

Which was _unacceptable_.

No, she needed another plan, something different, something perhaps a little more… drastic. Before this mess she’d planned to dive; perhaps she still could. Get a little distance from the city, from Kara, disappear somewhere Cadmus couldn’t find her by taking herself completely off the grid.

It’d give her the opportunity to start feeling like herself again.

But she couldn’t leave, not without saying goodbye. She didn’t want Kara to worry she might have been taken again, didn’t want her to hear about this article from someone else. At least not without Cat there to explain that it wasn’t really her, loathe as she was to believe that Kara might think her capable of such a thing.

Decision made, Cat reached for her own tablet and opened the article before tucking it under her arm.

“Mom?” Carter’s voice was quiet in her ear, and she hated how scared he looked when she turned to face him. “Are you okay?”

“I… yes. Yes, sweetheart, I’m fine.” It was a lie, and the way his cheek twitched was evidence that he didn’t believe her. “Or I think I will be, at least. I just need to go and talk to someone. I… I might need to go away again. Just for a little while.”

“Why?” His voice trembled, and Cat’s heart shattered in her chest. She would get revenge on Cadmus not only for what they had done to her, but also for what they had put her son through.

“I need to find out who did this,” she said, motioning to the article. “And I need to stop it from happening again.”

“But you’ll come back?”

Cat swallowed thickly around the lump in her throat. “I will,” she promised, and she willed herself to believe it. She could solve this, even if it meant distancing herself from the people she loved before she could come back home to them. “You’re not going to lose me.”

***

Alex took a deep breath before knocking on the door of her sister’s apartment.

After thirty seconds of waiting, Alex shrugged and slid her key into the lock, shouldering open the door while balancing a tray of three coffees in her spare hand – one for her, and two for Kara – and a bag of pastries under her arm. She suspected her sister would need the caffeine and the carbs, considering the news Alex was about to give her.

“Kara?” Alex frowned. Despite Kara’s text early this morning assuring her she’d gotten home safe, Alex was still wary after her sister’s sudden disappearance. She set down the coffee and pastries on the kitchen table before wandering to the back of the apartment, yanking back the curtain that separated Kara’s bed from the rest of the room.

Alex blinked at the two people in her sister’s bed – neither of them Kara.

Lucy Lane and Susan Vasquez were sprawled across the covers, both fully clothed, shoes and all, and Alex’s worry shifted to a wry smile. She could have some fun with this.

“Lane! Vasquez!” she called, snickering when two pairs of eyes immediately snapped open, both Lucy and Vasquez scrambling hastily upright.

“Jesus Christ, Alex,” Lucy muttered, running a hand through messy hair. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Good.” Alex chuckled, feeling some sympathy for Vasquez, who was leaning against Kara’s headboard, looking queasy. “What the hell have you two done with my baby sister?”

“Kara?” Vasquez frowned, looking at the space between her and Lucy like she expected the woman to be there. “She was…”

“She’s lying in her bathtub,” Lucy supplied.

“In her… bathtub?” Alex asked, needing the clarification, and Lucy nodded. “Are you sure?”

“Well, I went to pee a few hours ago and she scared the fucking shit out of me so yeah, Alex. I’m pretty sure.” Lucy yawned, stretching her arms over her head before pushing herself to her feet. “Come here, I’ll show you.”

“I know the way to my own sister’s bathroom, Lane,” Alex grumbled, but she trailed behind her all the same. Lucy threw open the bathroom door with dramatic flair.

Kara was in the bathtub, alright. She was half-leaned over the edge of it, still in last night’s dress. When she looked up she winced, her face pale and her eyeliner smudged beneath her eyes.

“I think I’m dying,” Kara announced, groaning as she thudded her head back down on the side of the tub. “Is this what a human hangover is like? Why do you do this to yourselves?”

“Because it’s fun,” Lucy told her, and Kara groaned again.

“That’s it,” Alex said, looking from her sister to Lucy to Vasquez, who was sitting on the edge of Kara’s bed with her head in her hands. “You two are _banned_ from powerless Kara. The three of you are no longer allowed out unsupervised, ever again.”

“What?” Lucy, the only one of the three even remotely functional, pouted. “That’s not fair.”

“How I feel right now isn’t fair,” Kara moaned. “I’m a good person. I _save_ people, I don’t deserve this.”

“How much did you let her drink?” Alex asked Lucy, who just shrugged.

“I didn’t _count_ , Alex. And she’s fine. She’ll sleep it off.”

“She doesn’t _look_ fine.”

“I don’t feel fine,” Kara added, face still hidden. “I think this is what dying feels like.”

“You need to sober up,” Alex decided, crossing over to her sister and pulling her gently upright. “A shower will help.”

“And I’ll make sure Vasquez gets home okay,” Lucy offered.

“How are you even alive?” Kara groaned, leaning heavily on Alex’s shoulder and peering at Lucy with jealousy. “You drank more than me.”

“Experience,” Lucy said with a smirk before turning and sauntering over to Vasquez and helping her up. “Come on, Vasquez. Let’s get you home.” Alex watched them leave before she braced Kara against the tile wall and turned on the water.

“Shower,” Alex told her, helping Kara drag her dress over her head when it got stuck. “You’ll feel better. Try not to fall and drown, because I do not want to explain to J’onn that he has to keep dressing up as Supergirl because _you_ let Lucy Lane buy you too many drinks.”

Kara grumbled and Alex left her to it, though she kept the door open a crack in case Kara _did_ end up needing her. Returning to the kitchen and her coffee, she settled down in a chair and took a sip.

She’d only been there two minutes when she heard a knock on Kara’s door.

Alex reached for her gun before peering through the peephole in Kara’s door, frowning when she saw who stood on the other side.

Cat looked very frazzled, and Alex could guess why she was there.

She pulled open the door and holstered her weapon, standing in the open doorway to block Cat’s path into the apartment. She was well aware Cat had been avoiding her sister, and she didn’t know if Kara was equipped to deal with Cat in her current state.

Not to mention the fact that Cat’s name was attached to an article trying to turn National City against Supergirl.

“Agent Scully.” Cat’s voice was cool despite her wild expression, and Alex rolled her eyes at the nickname. “I’m actually glad to see you here. Can I come in?”

“I… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Please,” Cat murmured, her gaze steady and determined. “It’s important.”

“I know.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“I just came from Noonan’s.” Alex glanced at the coffee on Kara’s table. “I met James there.”

“Oh.” Relief flooded Cat’s features. “I asked him to call you if anything like this happened, but I didn’t know if he actually would.” Cat nodded to herself. “Good, that cuts down on some time. I have a plan.”

“You have a plan?” Considering how Cat had acted the last time Alex had seen her, darting into the back of a DEO van after her self-imposed incarceration, Alex hadn’t expected her to be so composed.

“I do,” Cat told her, leaning one shoulder against Kara’s doorframe. “It’s a two-fold plan – lock me out of the CatCo systems so nothing like this happens again at my hands, and then I disappear into the sunset away from my company where Cadmus can’t touch me.”

“Alex?” Alex turned to see Kara staring at the two of them, steam billowing out around her, a towel clutched close to her chest and her eyes wide as she looked between Cat and Alex. “What… what’s going on?”

“Kara…” Cat breathed her name, and at the look in Cat’s eyes when she took Kara in, Alex knew that no matter how much Kara (and Cat, if she ever dared to ask her) wanted to deny there was nothing between them, it sure looked a lot more than _friendship_. “I’m sorry–”

“She doesn’t know yet,” Alex told her, and Cat’s mouth snapped shut.

“Know what?” Kara frowned as she glanced between them again. “What aren’t you telling me? Why is Cat talking about disappearing?”

“Just… go and get dressed,” Alex said, “and we’ll talk about it then, okay?” Kara nodded, disappearing behind the curtain to her bedroom.

“Can I come in now?” Cat asked, voice pointed, and Alex waved her inside, knowing Cat could do little more damage than had already been done. Cat’s heels clicked on the wooden floor, a hand settled on her hip, and Alex wondered if this was the woman Kara was used to seeing strutting around CatCo.

Alex didn’t miss the way her fingers trembled, though. Maybe Cat wasn’t as put together as she was trying to appear.

Kara was ready in record time considering her lack of powers, reappearing a few moments later in black jeans and a loose white blouse, already darkened around her shoulders from the loose tendrils of wet hair.

“You’re okay.” There was a note of reverence in Kara’s voice as she approached Cat, who was hovering in Kara’s kitchen. Kara’s eyes were soft and her lips parted, and Alex didn’t know how it had taken her so long to figure out how Kara felt about this woman. “I… I was worried.”

“I’m sorry.” Cat looked it too – the sincerity was written across her face, the pain of staying away clear in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have…” Cat’s eyes flickered back to Alex, as though she’d forgotten she was there. “I’m sorry.”

“Can someone tell me what’s going on now?” Kara was fiddling with the hem of her shirt, clearly wracked with nerves, and Alex wondered what it must be like, to have finally kissed the person you were head over heels for, only for them to not remember a thing while you could never forget.

That would be a unique kind of torture.

Cat and Alex exchanged a glance, Alex nodding towards Cat to indicate she should do the honors. “There’s something you need to see,” Cat said, reaching into her bag and pulling out an iPad. She unlocked the screen and held it out towards Kara.

Their fingers brushed as Kara took it from Cat’s hand, and Cat let out a quiet gasp at the contact.

Yeah, the feeling definitely wasn’t one-sided.

Alex made a mental note to pester her sister more about her relationship with Cat at a later date. Kara had already lost so much, and it wasn’t fair she should lose this, too.

Alex winced as she caught another glimpse of the headline, but it was nothing compared to the strangled noise Kara made in the back of throat when she read it. Alex found it hard to look at her sister, because the crestfallen way her face fell was heartbreaking – but Cat couldn’t seem to look away, her own expression twisted with sorrow and guilt.

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” Kara whispered, tracing her fingers over the screen. “This isn’t…” She looked up, looked towards Cat. “You didn’t write this,” she said, sounding so certain.

“I don’t remember writing it,” Cat conceded, “but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t. Read it, Kara, it’s… it _sounds_ like me. Like my work. So either someone in my company is doing a damn good job of impersonating me, or…” Cat trailed off, nails digging into her palm. There was fear in her eyes, but a glimmer of something darker there, too.

“Or maybe Cadmus did get to me after all,” Cat said finally.

“But that’s not _possible_. You did all the checks, Alex, you said she was _fine_ , and she’s been fine, nothing’s happened–”

“Except for the fact that my company is being used for the exact purpose that Cadmus threatened me with while I was imprisoned. The technology they have… it’s entirely possible that whatever they did to me is undetectable, Kara. We have to consider the possibility I might still be a threat. I can’t remember things–”

“Because of Zatanna–”

“But what if it’s not just that? We can’t be certain this,” Cat waved a hand towards the article, “isn’t my work. That I haven’t been compromised. And even if it’s _not_ me, then…”

“There’s still a leak somewhere in CatCo,” Alex finished. “I’ve already talked to James, and we’re going to look into this. We’re going to find out who’s responsible.”

“That’s all very well, Agent Danvers, but you still need to eliminate me as a suspect.”

“That’s why you were talking about disappearing. You want to run away.” Kara’s voice wasn’t accusing, not exactly, but it made Cat bristle all the same.

“This isn’t running, Kara, this is keeping you safe, making sure Cadmus don’t use me to poison the people in this city against you.” Cat began to pace, hand still settled on her hip like she was in a board meeting and not her former assistant’s apartment. “I need to remove myself from the CatCo systems. That way I can’t wreak havoc even if Cadmus _are_ in my head.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Alex mused, because then at least they’d be able to rule out Cat if another article appeared. “I’m guessing you know how to do that?”

“I have superuser status in the system, which can override every security protocol. If that’s revoked, I won’t be able to do a thing.”

“I’m guessing James, as acting CEO, also has that power?” Cat nodded, and Alex made a mental note to add him to the top of her suspect list.

“I’d like there to be a second superuser in case James is involved in some way,” Cat continued, and Alex marveled at just how thoroughly she’d thought this through. “To take control of the reins if anything goes amiss.” Cat’s gaze lingered on Kara, and Alex knew what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth. “And I want that person to be you, Kara.”

Kara turned to blink at Cat with shock. “Me?”

“Who better?” Cat asked, pausing her pacing to stop in front of Kara, soft look in her eyes. “You were my shadow for two years. You know how the company runs and if things go awry, I trust Supergirl with the keys to my kingdom.”

“Are you sure?” Kara’s voice wavered, and, glancing between her sister and Cat, Alex couldn’t help but feel she was intruding on a private moment.

“I’m sure.” There was no trace of uncertainty in Cat’s voice, and she reached out gentle fingers to sweep across Kara’s cheek. “Once my status is revoked, I’ll leave the city, get some distance from CatCo, disappear to a yurt somewhere in the Himalayas. I’m sure they won’t have Wi-Fi there – I can do a little soul searching.”

“You shouldn’t be alone,” Kara insisted, and Alex had to agree with her sister on that. “You should stay here.”

“It isn’t safe,” Cat maintained, and Alex couldn’t argue with that either. “So, Agent Danvers.” Cat turned away from Kara slightly, looking back on Alex. “What do you think?”

Alex pursed her lips. “It’s a good plan,” she started, and Kara looked at her like she’d just eaten the last potsticker.

“Alex, you can’t be serious–”

“Let me _finish_ ,” Alex said. “It’s a good plan, but Kara does have a point. I don’t think you should be alone.”

“What do you suggest, then?” Cat pressed, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. “Because as comfortable as you tried to make that DEO cell, Agent Danvers, I wasn’t planning on a return trip anytime soon.”

“I wasn’t suggesting we lock you up again,” Alex replied, feeling a little ill at the thought. “I just… don’t think going off into the wilderness alone is such a good idea for you right now.” She bit her lip, mind working a hundred miles a minute as she tried to think of an alternative Cat would go for.

“I might have an idea,” Kara said, wringing her hands in her lap. “You want to get out of the city,” she continued, eyes on Cat, who nodded. “But you shouldn’t go alone, so how about you go with me instead?” Cat looked intrigued, and Alex had to admit, it wasn’t a terrible idea considering how stir crazy Kara had been going without her powers. “I can keep an eye on you, make sure that Cadmus aren’t trying to control you.”

“We _have_ been talking about Kara going back to Midvale for a couple of days to catch our mom up with what’s been happening with Cadmus lately,” Alex added. Not that they had much to report on that front, even less on the hunt for Jeremiah. She swallowed back her guilt because now was definitely not the time. “You could go with her.” Cat blinked, and Alex had a feeling she would need some persuading. “You think it’s a terrible idea, don’t you?”

***

“You’re right, Agent Danvers. Because it _is_ a terrible idea.”

Alex quirked her lips into a wry smile, while Kara gave her a thoughtful look that Cat didn’t like one bit. She could shoot down Alex Danvers with ease, but if Kara broke out her pleading, puppy dog eyes?

She might be powerless to stop a persuasive force like that.

“Why?” Alex pressed, leaning her hip against Kara’s kitchen table and looking no less intimidating in jeans and a thin t-shirt than she did in her tactical gear. “It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? To get away?”

“I wanted to get away _alone_. It’s not safe for Kara to come with me – there are a dozen ways for it to go wrong–”

“Not really,” Alex interrupted, earning herself a trademark Cat Grant stare. “It’s not like you can do much damage so far out of the city, especially if you don’t have access to a phone. You’ll have to be watched at pretty much all times, but…” Alex’s eyes lingered on Kara, Cat noted with some interest. “I can’t see that being much of a problem.”

“And if Cadmus try and turn me into a threat? If I hurt your sister and there’s no backup nearby to stop me?”

“No offense, Cat” – Alex sounded bemused, and Cat glared again – “but even without her powers, I’m pretty sure my sister can take you in a fight, even if you _did_ give those Cadmus guys a run for their money. We saw you get taken on the security tapes.”

“Wait. What do you mean, without her powers?” Cat turned back to Kara. “They still haven’t come back?”

Alex had told her Kara had burned herself out, that she was effectively human for now. Cat had wondered how Kara could be so _reckless_ at a time like this, when all it would take was one slip for Cadmus to find out that Supergirl was powerless, and that would be it for them all.

“Nope,” Kara confirmed.

“But last time they came back so quickly…”

Kara looked surprised, but it hadn’t been hard for Cat to recall that day when Kara’s arm had mysteriously healed itself mere hours after being broken.

“That was thanks to an adrenaline rush.” Kara explained, looking a little wistfully out of her open window, and Cat wondered if she was remembering what it felt like to fly. “So unless anyone is willing to jump down an elevator shaft in the hope that my powers will come back in time for me to catch them–”

“It’s just a waiting game,” Alex interjected, looking at Kara with disapproval. “It’ll happen when it happens.”

“I hope this information isn’t widely known. That you can lose your powers and there’s no telling how long it’ll take for them to come back.” It made Cat anxious, to know Kara was vulnerable like this.

“It’s not,” Alex was quick to assure her. “But it’s another reason why I think Kara should get out of the city for a little while too. She’s getting restless, and she’d be less at risk – and less likely to _put_ herself at risk, because don’t think I don’t know about the robbery you stopped last time you were powerless.” Kara looked sheepish, and Cat made a mental note to ask her about that later. “A little rest, a lot of sun, it’ll be good for her.”

“Is that what you need to get your powers back?”

“My power comes from the sun, so yeah.” Kara was illuminated by its rays where she stood in her kitchen, skin glowing in the light, and Cat didn’t think it was fair someone could look so damn beautiful.

The last thing she should be doing was admiring Kara, especially considering the cold shoulder she’d been giving her for the past few days. But it was hard to look away when Kara looked like _that_ , hair tousled and wet from a shower, face devoid of makeup, showing off her natural beauty. She looked younger, like this, and Cat could scarcely believe someone so young could have lost so much, could carry so much weight on her shoulders, strong though they may be.

“I still don’t… I still don’t know if it’s a good idea.” Cat was hesitant, not just because it could be dangerous, but also because it would be so much harder to quench her ever-growing feelings for Kara if they were confined together for any length of time. She’d planned to stay _away_ from her, not go on a vacation with her.

“It’s better than you being on your own,” Kara said. “And maybe… maybe a break from the city will do the both of us some good. You could bring Carter too, if you wanted.”

Cat narrowed her eyes, because using her son was playing dirty and Kara knew it, but she also made a good point. Carter had spent so much time apart from her lately, and she was still haunted by the look in his eyes as she’d left the penthouse to come here, the vulnerability in his voice as he’d begged her to come back soon.

“And if anything _did_ happen, I’d be just a phone call away,” Alex jumped in, and Cat definitely didn’t like the two of them teaming up – how had their mother managed to deny them anything when they’d been teenagers? “I could have a team there within half an hour, tops. And while you’re gone, I can look into CatCo and find where the leak came from.”

Cat looked between the two of them, both trying to persuade her this would be the best thing for all of them.

And it was tempting, it really was.

But she remembered the fear she’d felt when Kara was missing, the terror of wondering if it was her fault.

She didn’t ever want to feel like that ever again.

Maybe Kara would be safer if Cat simply left like she’d been planning to before Cadmus had ruined it all, if she went away and never looked back, but she knew that wasn’t an option for her either.

No, she was in this fight now, sick of hiding in her apartment, ready to stop running.

And looking at Kara, her blue eyes bright in the afternoon sun, her cheeks flushed with color, perhaps the most beautiful thing that Cat had ever seen, she didn’t think she’d be able to.

“Very well.” Cat shook her head, knowing she was defeated. “We’ll do this your way.” Kara’s eyes lit up, and Cat told herself she was doing the right thing, although maybe not for the right reasons. “Under one condition.” Kara frowned as Cat held up a finger, like she was nervous about what it might be, and even Alex seemed curious.

Cat let the statement hang in the air for a moment before she curved her lips into a small smile, her first in what felt like a long, long time.

“I get to hear _all_ of your embarrassing childhood stories.”

“Oh, you don’t need to go to Midvale for that,” Alex told her as they both watched the horror dawn on Kara’s face. “I got twelve years of ‘em stored right up here.” Alex tapped her temple with her index finger as her sister threw a threatening glare that screamed ‘don’t you dare.’ “But my mom will have some good ones too.”

Midvale, California. The first time Cat had heard of the town was when she’d seen it listed under a summer internship on Kara’s resume – she could never have imagined back then that she’d be here now, that Kara would have _lasted_ so damn long by her side, about to visit the place itself.

She shouldn’t be giddy – this was supposed to be an extended imprisonment, not a vacation – but as she glanced again at Kara, she didn’t know how she was supposed to treat it as anything but.

“I look forward to hearing them,” Cat replied, and Kara groaned, holding her head in her hands. “You were the one that wanted this,” Cat reminded her, smirking as Kara glanced up at her and grimaced, and Cat felt more herself than she had in weeks.

“Just don’t torture me too badly?”

“I make no promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For these brilliant editors, much thanks:  
> catherinegrant ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinegrant) | [tumblr](http://catherinegrant.tumblr.com/ask)),@spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)), @Revolos55 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Revolos55/pseuds/Revolos55) | [tumblr](http://saunteringvaguelydownwards.tumblr.com/ask)), and @musetotheworld ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/musetotheworld) | [tumblr](http://musetotheworld.tumblr.com/ask))


	5. Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on Supergirl Virtual Season...

Oh Kara. Oh sweetheart. Look what @supergaysupercat captured! Direct your praise to the comments below or [Tumblr ask](http://supergaysupercat.tumblr.com/ask). 


	6. Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex asks Maggie to help her investigate where the Supergirl article originated from, while Cat and Kara begin their road trip to Midvale with Carter in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @xy0009 brings us this week’s pretty with the title image: ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

Maggie was catching up on paperwork at the precinct when her phone rang, and she smiled at the name emblazoned across the screen, accepting the call and cradling the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she continued typing on her ancient computer.

“Danvers!” She must’ve said the name with a little too much enthusiasm, because her latest babysitter gave Maggie a _look_ from the desk opposite hers, raising an eyebrow in interest. Maggie rolled her eyes and turned away before adding, “I thought you forgot all about me.”

She hadn’t heard from Alex since she’d gotten her security clearance at the DEO, despite the apology drinks she’d promised her. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – she was terrified Cadmus would find out about that clearance and her new association with Supergirl, and maybe a little distance was what Maggie needed to clear her head and get over her growing feelings for this woman.

Not that it was working, considering the number of times Maggie’s thumb had hovered over Alex’s name in her contacts the past few days.

“Forget about a girl like you? Never,” Alex said, and how was Maggie supposed to stay away when Alex’s voice was enough to brighten her day?

“Yeah? What’s up?” Maggie asked. She could do with something to look forward to, whether it be drinks or consulting on a case – anything to break through the monotony of filing yet another crime scene report. She couldn’t ask directly, though, since she had no idea who might be listening.

Her partner was already eyeing her more closely than she liked.

“You bored? I got a little something I could use your help with.”

Maggie smiled, drumming her fingers on top of her desk. “Yeah? I’m still at work right now, but I get off at eight.”

“Alright, can we meet somewhere later?”

“Sure thing, Danvers. My place? You can bring me those beers that you owe me.” Perhaps she shouldn’t be inviting the woman she was supposed to be keeping at arm’s length to her apartment late at night, but Maggie never had been very good at self-control when it came to a pretty face.

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you there at eight thirty?” Maggie suggested, more than a little surprised that Alex had agreed. “I’ll text you the address.”

“Sure.” Alex hung up, and Maggie dropped her phone back onto her desk.

“Hot date tonight, Sawyer?” her babysister asked. “That chick that was in here the other week? Auburn hair?” Maggie tensed, regretting that Alex had come here to find her – she didn’t want to put her in unnecessary danger.

Alex might fling herself in front of bullets as a part of her day job, but that was nothing compared to the people pulling the strings at the station.

That Alex might be putting herself front and center on Cadmus’s radar because of her association with Maggie was terrifying, and she wished more than ever that their paths had never crossed.

“None of your business, Chavez,” she fired back, with enough venom for him to hold his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Jeez, Sawyer, I was only asking.”

“Well don’t,” Maggie muttered, focusing back on her computer screen.

“You’re a real bitch, you know that?” The insult rolled off her – she’d heard that and worse over the years.

You didn’t grow up queer in Nowhere, Nebraska and get to the rank of detective without being called a few names along the way.

“Yeah, so I’ve been told.”

***

Kara stepped out the front door of her apartment building and onto the sidewalk a full ten minutes before the time Cat had told her, knowing she would be at least five minutes early.

Kara dropped her bag to the ground and leaned back against the brick wall of her building, taking several deep breaths of cool morning air in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

The thought of spending several hours trapped in a car with Cat was… nerve wracking, to say the least, and Kara had spent the hours since Cat had left her apartment that morning worrying about what the next few days would bring.

She kept reminding herself the alternative was Cat going off on her own, which was out of the question. And besides, maybe the next few days would begin to heal the tension between them, to mend the cracks. Plus Carter would be around to act as a buffer – hopefully enough to stop Kara from thinking about what Cat’s mouth felt like moving against her own.

That kiss still haunted her dreams, and several of her waking moments too – it was her new go-to daydream when she was at at work, trying to tune out Snapper’s criticisms ringing in her ears. What if Cat’s silence had been because she remembered the kiss and wanted nothing to do with her?

There was no realization on Cat’s face when she’d appeared at her door today, though, only a steely determination Kara hadn’t seen in a long while.

Kara’s hands curled into fists. Cadmus would pay for what they had done to her.

The two of them had barely spoken beyond making arrangements for their trip, Cat insisting she’d drive (‘because I don’t trust your powerless reflexes, Kara’).

Cat’s Mercedes turned the corner onto her street, pulling up to the curb five minutes earlier than their agreed time.

The trunk popped open and Kara hoisted her bag over her shoulder, grinning and waving to Carter as he pressed his face against one of the rear windows. The trunk was almost filled to the brim, and Kara stuffed her backpack into the tiny space Cat had left her, relieved when the trunk still shut.

She paused before making her way to the passenger door and getting inside, suddenly immersed in the subtle scent of Cat’s perfume – which took her back to that night, to drowning in it, to drowning in _Cat_ , the taste of her heavy on her tongue.

Rao, the next few days were going to be torturous.

“Hey, Kara!” Carter said, poking his head between the two front seats as Cat typed in the GPS coordinates for Midvale.

“Hey, buddy. How you doing?”

“Good.” There was a book in his hands, something about space. “I can’t wait to see where you grew up.”

“Yeah? I hope you like it.” Kara wondered what story Cat had told him about why she was accompanying her ex-assistant to her hometown, because she doubted it was the truth.

“I’m sure I will.” He flashed her one last smile before settling back in his seat with his book, putting in a pair of earphones as Cat pulled onto the street.

Cat stared at the road ahead, and Kara sighed and resigned herself to a few hours of tense silence. She pulled out her phone, playing a few games until her screen lit up with a text from Lucy.

_I can’t believe that after complaining she was ignoring you last night, you’re now going on a romantic vacation with Cat._

Kara flushed pink, a strangled noise escaping her mouth before she could smother it – it earned her an alarmed look from Cat, and Kara quickly angled her phone screen away from any curious eyes.

“Sorry,” she apologized hastily, frantically typing out _‘it is not a romantic vacation!!!!’_ before slipping her phone back in her pocket.

“Everything okay?” Cat’s attention was focused on the road, and Kara gave herself a few precious moments to take her in before tearing her gaze away.

“Yeah, just Lucy being Lucy.” Cat hummed noncommittally. “She was asking about you the other day. Wanted to know if you were doing okay.” Cat’s shoulders tensed. Kara knew she should be quiet, but now that she’d opened her mouth she wasn’t sure how to stop. “You, um, you are, right?” Cat didn’t answer. “Cat?” Still nothing.

Kara had been naïve to think this trip would change anything between them. Maybe Cat just didn’t want anything to do with her anymore.

Which didn’t make sense, seeing as Cat had all but handed her company over to Kara this morning when she’d revoked her superuser status and given it to Kara instead. That show of trust seemed far away now, when Cat would barely look at her, and Kara wished Cat would just _talk_ to her about it instead of ignoring her.

“I’m okay,” Cat said after a silence that stretched on slightly too long to be comfortable. “I’m doing okay.” Her voice was steady, but Kara noticed how tightly she was gripping the steering wheel.

Despite finally cracking a bit, Cat still wasn’t entirely forthcoming with conversation, and after a while Carter took pity on Kara, pausing his music and putting away his book to teach her some of the games he’d used to play on long trips when he was little, and with some coaxing, Cat began to join in.

But it wasn’t until they were at a rest stop that Cat spoke to her directly again, when Carter had disappeared into the bathroom and left them waiting alone in the hallway.

“Kara, I… I’m sorry.” Kara blinked in surprise, turning to find Cat staring resolutely at her hands. “The way I’ve been acting towards you… it isn’t fair.”

“No, it’s not,” Kara said, and Cat’s lips twitched at her defiance. “I just… I want to know why. Have I…” Kara wondered again if Cat _did_ remember what had happened between them. “…done something to upset you? Do you wish I hadn’t invited you out here?”

“No, Kara, god no, I–” Cat halted when she spotted Carter emerging from the bathroom, but he pointed to a vending machine some way away, prompting Cat to wave him on. “You haven’t done anything wrong,” she continued once Carter had turned his back, finally lifting her head to meet Kara’s gaze. “I thought… I was so scared that they might’ve done something to me. We still don’t know if they have. I thought you’d be safer if I stayed away from you.”

“Cat…” Kara swallowed hard at the words, at the proof that Cat still cared, that she was doing this to _protect_ her. “That’s not… I don’t want you to stay away from me.” It was a little too close to admitting how much Cat meant to her, and Kara was quick to bite her tongue lest she reveal too much. “You mean too much to me for that.”

“And you think you don’t mean that much to me too? That’s the _point_ of me trying to stay away, Kara – you’re powerless. I could hurt you. I could _kill_ you, and do you think I could live with myself if that happened? If I was responsible for–” Cat bowed her head.

“Hey, look at me.” She wouldn’t, and Kara let hesitant fingers drift over Cat’s cheek, curled them under her jaw and tilted up her head. “That’s not going to happen, okay? They didn’t get to you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.” All around them was bustling with activity, people going to and fro, but somehow it felt like they were the only two in the room. “I know that this?” Kara tapped her fingers gently against Cat’s temple. “That beautiful head of yours is just that – yours. Cadmus aren’t in there, they haven’t broken through – and if they have? If they try to make you hurt me? I believe that you’re strong enough to fight them off.”

“Kara…” Cat’s voice was soft, almost reverent, and her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. She was so, so beautiful, and Kara struggled to remind herself why this, the two of them, was a bad idea. “You have too much faith in me.”

“I have just as much faith in you as you have in me,” Kara corrected, her thumb traversing the slope of Cat’s cheek. “We’ll get through this, Cat. I know we will.”

“I–”

“I got you a chocolate bar, Kara,” Carter called from over her shoulder, and Kara jumped almost three feet into the air, ripping her hand away from Cat’s cheek like it burned and whirling around so quickly that she almost fell over.

Carter looked at her with some bemusement, blinking between them, two candy bars held in one hand. “It’s okay, you know,” he told them conversationally, and Kara wondered just what it was, exactly, that was okay. “You can be affectionate around me. I don’t mind. Can we go back to the car now?”

“Of course we can, sweetheart,” Cat answered, because Kara was too busy staring at Carter like he had grown a second head because had he just said…

“What is happening?” Kara asked once Carter headed back towards the parking lot, Cat prodding her in the side to get her moving. “What does he mean?”

“Well, about that…” Cat bit at her bottom lip, looking uncharacteristically nervous as they stepped out into the bright sunlight. “I needed a story to spin about why we were all going to your mother’s house together.”

“Okay…”

“And when I brought the subject up he drew his own conclusions and I just… didn’t correct him. I thought it was the best option, given the circumstances.” Cat’s words were stilted, and she refused to look Kara in the eye.

“Cat?” Kara pulled her to a stop. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Cat exclaimed, drawing a few alarmed looks from those nearby. “He just assumed…”

“Assumed what?”

“That we were dating.” Kara’s eyes bulged, and she felt like the air had been knocked from her lungs. “That we’d had a fight and that was why we hadn’t spoken much over the past few days, but we’re trying to patch things up. And that we’re seeking your foster mother’s approval before things go any further.”

“He thinks _what_?!” Kara hissed, but Cat was already hurrying towards the car, leaving Kara staring after her in shock.

***

There was a knock on Maggie’s door at eight thirty sharp, and she padded over and pulled it open to reveal Alex Danvers on the other side, motorcycle helmet under one arm and a six pack of beers under her other.

Alex was dressed down in jeans and an oversized shirt, hair still a little damp from a shower and curling at the back of her neck, and oh, Maggie was very, very screwed, because Alex looked _gorgeous_ and Maggie was almost certain she wasn’t going to concentrate on anything else tonight.

Alex set the beers down on the counter, and Maggie hunted for a bottle opener as Alex’s eyes skittered around her home, taking it all in.

Maggie spent most of her free time at the alien bar or a gay bar, trying to chase away the sting of loneliness that crept in whenever she went back to an empty home, and it showed in the sterility that seemed to linger in the air.

She wondered what Alex’s apartment looked like, not sure she’d ever get the chance to find out.

“Finished giving the place a one-over?” Maggie asked, voice dry as she leaned against her kitchen counter and folded her arms across her chest, eyeing Alex with an amused smirk.

“Sorry.” Alex at least had the grace to look sheepish, and she took a beer gratefully after Maggie popped off the cap. “Force of habit.”

“Comes with the job,” Maggie agreed, grinning, and she didn’t miss the way that Alex’s gaze flitted to Maggie’s neck as she took a long sip of her own beer, lingering at her collarbones, left exposed by the open collar of the shirt she was wearing.

Inwardly, Maggie cursed herself for inviting Alex over here, for letting temptation walk right through her front door because Maggie could absolutely, under no circumstances, go there. Not now that she knew what she did about Alex’s sister, not when it would feel like a betrayal to them both, to start something with a woman she couldn’t be honest with.

“So,” Maggie said, clearing her throat. “What can I do you for, Danvers?”

She cursed herself before the words had even left her mouth, because they were on _just_ the wrong side of suggestive when her mind was screaming to be anything but.

It was almost worth it, though, for the way Alex’s cheeks flushed red, mouth opening and closing a few times before she finally spoke.

“I have a case,” Alex told her as she headed for the couch. She hovered once she reached it, and Maggie sat down and patted the space beside her until Alex sat too, relieved when Alex kept a careful few inches of space between them.

“Okay, so,” Alex started, reaching for her bag and pulling out a stack of papers and photographs before spreading them across Maggie’s coffee table. “You ever read CatCo Magazine?”

“Only when I’m really bored.” Maggie frowned, thrown by the unexpected question.

“Well, we know that Cadmus took Cat to turn her into their own personal anti-alien propaganda machine,” Alex said, and Maggie nodded, because with the power and influence the woman wielded, that was hardly surprising. “And we thought they’d been unsuccessful, except…” Alex waved a hand towards the papers she’d gathered, encouraging Maggie to take a look.

She didn’t read anything properly, but she picked up a few articles and transcripts from TV and radio, skimmed them well enough to get the general gist – aliens bad, humanity good, everyone different must be exterminated, etc. – and noted the CatCo brand present in every single one.

“You think they got to her?”

“I think they got to someone,” Alex corrected, looking weary as she surveyed her pile of evidence. “And I wanna know who it is.”

Maggie felt a little sick as she realized the case wasn’t as free from Cadmus as she’d hoped. What would her captain think, of her working more closely with the DEO but only to uncover a Cadmus agent?

What would Alex think of Maggie, when she found out the truth?

“So,” Alex said, eyes bright. “What do you say? Wanna team up?”

“Sure, Danvers.” Maggie didn’t know how to refuse those eyes, no matter how much she suspected she should. “Why not?”

***

“ _I can’t believe this._ ” Kara’s words rang on repeat in Cat’s head, over and over until she wanted to scream.

Admittedly, when Carter had told her, so calmly and like it made perfect sense, that he knew she and Kara were together, it had thrown Cat for a loop too. Her son hadn’t even _seen_ them together, not really, and yet he’d apparently decided it was perfectly normal for Cat to take him to visit the mother of her former assistant, because he assumed they’d been secretly dating for _months_.

Letting him believe that seemed like the best option for them all, Cat still determined to shelter him from this Cadmus mess as much as possible. And in a way, it wasn’t too far from the truth – Cat _did_ want to be with Kara; she just wasn’t sure now was really the best time.

But was the idea of the two of them together really so repulsive? Cat had thought there was something between them, but what if she had mistaken Kara’s kindness as something completely different?

Maybe her own desires had skewed all of their interactions in her mind, and there was nothing between them at all.

The monotony of the open road gave her nothing else to think about, and she was almost relieved for the distraction when they reached their next rest stop.

She used her son as a shield to avoid being alone with Kara, finally relaxing as the three of them made their way back to the car.

Except then Carter asked if he could call his father before they got back on the road, and Cat didn’t have the heart to say no to those hopeful eyes. So that left her and Kara back in the car as Carter paced the grass in front of their parking spot, phone pressed to his ear as he chattered away.

“Does your ex also think that… that you and I are…” Kara couldn’t even finish the sentence, and Cat bristled beside her, staring straight ahead.

“No.” Her voice was tight.

“But Carter does? I still can’t believe–”

“Is it really that preposterous?” Cat couldn’t bite back the words, the hurt in her voice palpable. “Is the idea of you and I together really so absurd that you struggle to think my son could believe it?”

“I… Cat, that’s not what I – look at me.” Kara reached for her hand and Cat shivered, still feeling the ghost of her touch against her cheek from earlier. “I didn’t mean that.”

Kara’s eyes were soft, and Cat wondered if she’d misinterpreted this whole thing.

“I just… I don’t know.” Kara lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I was surprised you’d be willing to let him think that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m me, and you’re… you.” The reverence was enough to make Cat’s throat tight.

“I could do a hell of a lot worse than you,” Cat murmured, and she knew they were crossing into dangerous territory. “I have in the past – you’ve met my ex-husband, right? He might be a good dad, but everything else…”

“I have had the unfortunate pleasure, yes.” Kara’s smile was soft, and she was so beautiful. “I’m sorry if I made you think that… It’s not preposterous. Not to me.” It was barely a whisper, almost lost to the night despite the scant few inches that separated them. “I guess I’m just surprised that Carter accepted it so easily.”

“Not as surprised as I was when he brought it up, but he seemed taken with the idea. He thinks you’re good for me.”

“Well, I’m glad he approves,” Kara said with a chuckle, and Cat gave a wry shake of her head.

“I’m not so sure your mother will, if she gets wind of what Carter truly thinks our relationship is.”

“I can fill her in,” Kara told her. “And she probably wouldn’t be that shocked.”

“That you’re bringing home an older woman you used to work beneath?”

“Well, she knows Kryptonians never made a fuss of sexuality.” Kara’s fingers were still warm on her arm, and Cat’s breath hitched when Kara swept her thumb across the underside of Cat’s wrist. “So nothing shocking about the woman part. The older part… I mean _technically_ I’m nearly fifty years old–”

“You were in stasis. That doesn’t count.”

“Either way, I age slower than humans – I’ll outlive whoever I choose to be with,” Kara said, and Cat ached knowing that she would have to suffer more, to lose everyone she loved, her whole world, all over again. “So age has never been particularly important to me.”

“Kara…”

“It’s fine,” Kara said, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I accepted it a long time ago.” Her gaze flickered to the window, away from Cat. “Carter’s coming back.”

Cat glanced out the windshield to see her son was indeed returning. Kara leaned back in her seat, expression a little wistful as she turned to stare out of the window.

Her hand dropped from Cat’s arm as Carter opened the car door, and the faint tingle left behind by Kara’s touch lingered long after she’d pulled away.

***

“So, why do you want me for this, Danvers?” Maggie asked Alex, almost two hours (and an equal number of beers) into their initial recon. The two of them were putting together a list of potential suspects to begin to eliminate, one by one.

Top of that list? Aside from Cat, there was James, his assistant Eve, and Snapper Carr.

They had the most access, and would have relatively little trouble swaying what was sent to the public eye. Not to mention that as a superuser, James would have full access to all CatCo systems.

Alex hated thinking of him as a suspect, especially when he’d been the one to clue her into this in the first place, but she needed to do this properly, and that meant trusting no one.

There were a dozen other CatCo employees on the list who had the potential to be a Cadmus mole, and Alex was exhausted just _looking_ at it.

“What do you mean, what do I want you for?” Alex leaned against the back of Maggie’s couch, turning to face her with a quirked eyebrow.

“You seem pretty high up in the DEO rankings,” Maggie said as she shrugged, mirroring Alex’s position and leaning back too. “Figured you could get a lackey to do all of this for you.” She indicated the coffee table with a sweep of her arm.

“I wouldn’t trust a lackey with something like this.” They’d made too many mistakes already – Alex was still ashamed she hadn’t realized J’onn had been taken – and they couldn’t afford to make any more. “And the agents that I _do_ trust are few and far between.”

“But you trust me?” There was a lilt to Maggie’s voice, tone almost strangled, and Alex eyed her curiously.

“You saved my sister.” Alex would be forever grateful for that, even more so now that Kara had told her the full details of Maggie’s rescue. “That makes you pretty trustworthy to me.” Maggie swallowed like that was some kind of heavy revelation, and Alex shifted uncomfortably beneath her gaze. “And besides,” she continued, trying to brush it off, “I don’t want to take any time and resources from the DEO.” That wasn’t wholly true – she’d throw subtlety out of the window if she could use the full range of DEO resources at her disposal to investigate at CatCo, but Washington had stonewalled any Cadmus investigation after discovering that Supergirl’s disappearance last week had had nothing to do with them after all.

“Oh, but you got no problem taking it away from the police? You’re damn lucky I like you, Danvers.”

Alex’s cheeks flamed red, and she took a hasty sip of her beer.

“And you should _also_ be good for undercover work,” Alex continued like Maggie hadn’t spoken. “No one at CatCo will recognize you when you go poking around, but some of them know me from the times I’ve visited my sister. Plus, I might need you to do a little digging on James.”

“And Little Danvers isn’t doing any detective work on this?” Maggie asked, looking surprised.

“She’d be all over this if she could, trust me.” Kara was already a little put-out she couldn’t help with the investigation – not that it had stopped her texting Alex with a new lead every ten minutes. “But she’s actually heading out of town for a little while with Cat.”

“With Cat?” Maggie’s eyebrows hiked up, and Alex knew what her next question was going to be before she even opened her mouth. “Is there something going on there? Between your sister and the Queen of all Media? ‘Cause she looked a little more shaken by Cat’s disappearance than she should’ve been if Cat was _just_ her boss. I certainly wouldn’t mind if mine went away on an extended vacation.”

“There’s nothing going on.”

“Bullshit.”

“There’s not!” Alex insisted. “Yet, anyway.” Maggie looked interested, but Alex waved her off – she didn’t want to gossip about her sister’s love life, not when it involved Cat freaking Grant. “She’s keeping an eye on Cat while we look into this leak, making sure nothing’s coming through her.”

“Why didn’t you offer me that job?” Maggie asked, and Alex threw her a look of disbelief. “What? Cat’s hot.”

“She’s less hot when you get to hear about the new and exciting ways she’s come up with to torture your little sister,” Alex muttered, not willing to let Cat off the hook for that, even if she knew it was all in the past.

“I don’t know, the mean thing is still kinda hot.”

“Whatever you say, Sawyer.” Maggie grinned, and Alex felt her traitorous heart pound at the way it lit up her whole face.

Maggie Sawyer was all kinds of beautiful, and it terrified Alex how much she’d been creeping into her thoughts the past few days. Alex didn’t _get_ like this. She didn’t do dating and she didn’t do relationships and she certainly didn’t do _feelings_ and yet… every time she saw Maggie she wanted to draw her close and kiss her senseless.

Which was unacceptable – she was _supposed_ to be dedicating her free time and resources to finding her father, not thinking about her hot new cop friend.

That sobered her up immediately, and she pulled back from where she’d been leaning towards Maggie on the couch, feeling guilty she’d spent an evening enjoying herself when her father was out there somewhere in Cadmus’s clutches.

Another day gone, and she was no closer to finding him.

“I… I should probably get going,” Alex said, glancing at the clock that ticked above Maggie’s fireplace as though she was only just noticing the time. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?” It was Maggie’s day off, and Alex almost felt bad asking her to spend it doing detective work.

“I’ll meet you at CatCo plaza at nine,” Maggie agreed, pushing herself to her feet and leading Alex to the door. She waited until Alex had picked up her helmet before easing it open. “Thanks for the beers,” Maggie added as Alex hovered in her doorway, not quite ready to leave.

“Thanks for the help.”

“No problem, Danvers.”

“Sure you don’t mind spending your day off with me?”

“Spend the day trying to hunt down a mole with someone as pretty as you as my partner?” Maggie said, a sparkle in her eye, and Alex’s breath caught in her throat. “It’ll be a hardship, but I’m sure I’ll manage.”

Alex huffed out a laugh, growing quiet when Maggie’s eyes flickered down to her lips.

It would be so easy to just reach out and curl a hand around Maggie’s jaw, run her thumb over her cheek and tilt her head up to brush their lips together.

Alex didn’t need yet another distraction from the hunt for her father, and she forced herself to take a step back and out into Maggie’s hall.

“See you in the morning, Sawyer,” Alex said, smiling, and Maggie offered her one last dazzling smile in return, one that Alex suspected would be haunting her dreams later that night.

***

Cat breathed a small sigh of relief as she passed the ‘Welcome to Midvale’ sign that was standing tall and proud just outside the town limits. She’d been driving for hours, and she couldn’t wait to stretch her legs and rest.

Kara, who’d been dozing with her head resting against the car window, perked up as they passed the sign, and Cat wondered how long it had been since she’d last come back here.

“I suppose your _work_ ” – she put a little emphasis on the word, making it clear she wasn’t just talking about CatCo – “doesn’t leave you much opportunity to make it home often.”

“I haven’t been back here since I finished college,” Kara admitted. “Eliza’s come to us the last few holidays. I can’t wait to see what’s changed.”

Cat could scarcely remember the last time she’d visited her hometown, a suburb on the outskirts of Metropolis – she was so relieved to move out of her mother’s house she’d barely looked back.

Seeing the childlike excitement in Kara’s eyes, Cat knew her life growing up here had been the complete opposite to her own.

Cat tried to imagine what Kara would have been like at that age – new to this planet where everything must have been so strange and terrifying.

“The house is just up here on the left,” Kara said as Cat pulled onto a dirt track leading away from the main town and towards a clifftop.

In the distance she could see rows upon rows of palm trees and hear the roar of the ocean, the moon big and beautiful on the horizon, casting the world around them in an ethereal glow.

It was beautiful, the house Kara directed her to even more so, all white walls and large windows, and Cat wondered again what it must have been like to grow up there, wondered if Kara and Alex had ever snuck up onto the roof to go soaring over the waves in the dead of night.

As they turned into the drive, the front door opened and light spilled onto the lawn, the silhouette of Eliza Danvers visible in the doorway.

She was tall and blonde and probably the same age as Cat herself, maybe even a handful of years younger. Cat remembered her from Myriad, smart and intimidating, sticking close to Kara’s side.

Kara hopped out of the car and went to greet her foster mother while Cat gently woke Carter, who had fallen asleep sometime in the last hour. He was bleary-eyed when she finally wrestled him from the car.

Eliza broke into a smile as Cat ascended the steps with Carter in tow. Cat tensed when Eliza drew her into a hug, not knowing how to react to the unexpected, but warm, embrace.

“Cat,” Eliza said as Cat returned the hug a little stiffly, “it’s good to see you again.” She pulled back. “I never did get a chance to thank for you all your help during Myriad.”

“I did what anyone else would.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” There was a knowing glint in Eliza’s eye, and Cat quickly looked away, having the sudden impression Eliza Danvers may have guessed the true depth of Cat’s feelings for Kara before Cat herself had even accepted them. “And you must be Carter.” Eliza’s attention thankfully turned elsewhere. “Kara’s told me all about you.”

“She has?” Carter blinked up at Kara in surprise, and she smiled and gave him an encouraging nod.

“She has,” Eliza confirmed, her eyes gentle and her smile kind. “She’s been telling me all about your school science project.”

“Eliza’s kind of a science genius,” Kara said. “She’d love to hear all about it.”

“Really?” Cat was amazed Kara even knew about the project in the first place – she wasn’t aware that she and Carter were in any kind of regular contact.

“I would. Why don’t you come inside and tell me all about it while we let your mom and Kara get their things from the car?”

Carter shuffled past her and into the house, already chattering away – there was something about Danvers women that seemed to put him at complete ease – leaving her and Kara hovering on the porch.

“If we start now, we might finish getting all your bags by midnight.” Kara’s eyes twinkled as she spoke, bright in the light of the near-full moon. “You _do_ know we’re only here for a few days, right?”

“Oh, hush.” But Cat’s lips twitched as she turned to make her way back to the car, enjoying how easy it was to fall back into teasing – after the past few days strain on their relationship, it was a refreshing change, and she’d missed it. “You know I like to be prepared.”

“But _this_ prepared?” Kara asked as Cat popped open the trunk. “No one needs this many bags – how many shoes are in that one?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It is when I’m carrying it. How many trips did it take you to get all of this in your car?”

“One.” Kara blinked at her, and Cat sighed. “Fine. Three. Happy?” Kara grinned, hoisting three bags onto her shoulder effortlessly, and Cat eyed her appreciatively as the muscles in her arm flexed – there was so much raw power there, and Cat imagined what it would be like to trace her fingers over Kara’s skin.

“What?” Kara asked, noticing her scrutiny but mistaking it for something else entirely. “I’m not completely helpless without my powers.”

“I didn’t say you were.” Cat bit her lip as Kara grabbed another two bags in her other hand, leaving Cat with just one. “I’m just…” She trailed off, unable to stop her gaze from wandering, “…admiring the view.”

It was perhaps too forward, but she still remembered Kara’s ‘because I’m me and you’re… _you_ ’ from before, the quiet certainty in her voice like she thought she wasn’t good enough for Cat, when Cat was more than sure the opposite was true.

And it was more than worth it to hear Kara sputter, her cheeks glowing brighter than the moon, and Cat laughed – really, truly laughed – and felt almost free for the first time since she’d been taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For these brilliant editors, much thanks:  
> catherinegrant ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinegrant) | [tumblr](http://catherinegrant.tumblr.com/ask)),@spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)), @Revolos55 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Revolos55/pseuds/Revolos55) | [tumblr](http://saunteringvaguelydownwards.tumblr.com/ask)), and @musetotheworld ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/musetotheworld) | [tumblr](http://musetotheworld.tumblr.com/ask))


	7. Act IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on Supergirl Virtual Season...

Talk about range. Look at all the ways @pinkrabbitpro knows how to kill us. Direct your praise to the comments below or [Tumblr ask](http://pinkrabbitpro.tumblr.com/ask). 


	8. Act IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cat and Kara grow closer, hidden away from the world in Kara’s childhood home. Back in National City, Alex and Maggie uncover the person who wrote the article.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @xy0009 brings us this week’s pretty with the title image: ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

“You’re up early.” Eliza was surprised to discover Cat already sitting in her kitchen the next morning with a book, no doubt her only form of entertainment after Eliza had turned the house into a temporary Faraday cage.

It was their precaution in case Cat tried to get a message out there, a way to neutralize any phone or Wi-Fi signals originating within those walls, at least until Cat’s name had been cleared.

Eliza thought it was nice to have a little company so early in the morning, too used to the silence that came with an empty house.

She’d considered moving once the girls had left for good after college, but she’d never been able to say goodbye to this house, not when it was filled with so many wonderful memories.

Her life had changed so much here – she and Jeremiah had gotten married on the sandy beach below; they’d brought Alex home from the hospital; Kal-El had brought them a teenage Kara, scared of her own shadow; and she’d heard the news she’d lost her husband in this very kitchen.

“I’m an early riser,” Cat told her, looking up from her book with a smile, but Eliza could read the weary eyes well enough to know it wasn’t the whole truth.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she guessed as she made her way to her first port of call every morning – her beloved coffee machine.

“No.” Cat ran a hand through her hair, and Eliza saw the way it shook. “I don’t, anymore. Not since…”

“Kara told me what happened.” She fiddled with the buttons on the machine, waiting until it was running before she turned to face Cat. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”

“It wasn’t pleasant.” Cat’s mouth twisted despite the nonchalance with which she spoke. “I still can’t trust myself.”

“Kara told me about that too.” Eliza reached for two mugs, suspecting Cat would need the caffeine. “I know why you’re here. And I know why your son thinks you’re here.” Cat grimaced, but Eliza’s lips curled as she thought back to Kara bumbling her way through the explanation.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh, don’t be. I understand why you might want to shield him from the truth. And I can play along.” Honestly, Eliza was surprised the two of them weren’t actually together – she’d seen them during Myriad, seen the way Cat looked at her daughter, and the way Kara looked at Cat in return – but she didn’t want to press.

“Coffee?” she confirmed as the machine beeped behind her, and Cat nodded before she closed her book and set it aside. “How do you take it?”

“Black, please.” Eliza pushed a full mug across the counter, and Cat wrapped her hands around it and lifted it to her lips. “I hope we’re not imposing on you too much.”

“Not at all.” Eliza settled on the stool opposite Cat. “It’s nice to have a full house again. Honestly, I was considering getting a cat just so I had someone else to talk to.”

“I know the feeling.” Cat stared down at her mug. “I’m not used to being home during the day and when Carter’s at school…” She swallowed, hard, and Eliza could see her time with Cadmus had left deep scars that would take a long time to heal. “It’s… difficult.”

“It’s hard being alone when something like that happens to you.” It wasn’t the same, but Eliza remembered all too well those long weeks after Jeremiah had gone, when the girls were out of the house at school or with friends, and how difficult it had been to keep herself together for them. “But it does get easier.”

Cat managed a small smile, and Eliza was quick to turn to another topic. Cat was asking what Kara had been like when she was younger (with a soft look in her eyes that made it clear Kara had left a mark on this woman’s heart, whether she was ready to admit it or not), when heavy footsteps sounded from the stairs.

Kara rounded the corner into the kitchen not a moment later, still in her pyjamas, her hair messy as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. She pulled up short when she caught sight of the two of them at the kitchen counter.

“You weren’t talking about me, were you?”

“Superhearing not back then, I see?” Eliza countered, and Kara frowned as she shook her head. “They’ll be back soon. Your cousin once went without his for eight days.”

“Eight?!” Kara whined, sounding like she was fourteen all over again. “I might have to deal with this for another three days?”

“Perhaps,” Eliza told her. Kara pouted, helping herself to the coffee that still sat on the counter. “But it’s not the end of the world.”

“But I should be out there.” Kara waved out of the kitchen window. “ _Doing_ something.”

“You are doing something,” Eliza said patiently, as Kara drew up a stool beside her. “You’re helping Cat. Is that not worthwhile?” Kara narrowed her eyes, but Eliza just smiled into her next sip of coffee.

“Did you sleep okay?” Kara asked Cat instead of answering Eliza’s question, and Eliza decided that now would be a good time to get breakfast on the go – even without her powers, she was sure Kara would still be hungry.

Sure enough, she heard Kara’s stomach rumble as she opened the refrigerator.

***

“Hey,” James called out, and Alex glanced up as he stuck his head through the door of the superfriends’ office early on Sunday morning. Winn was already at his computer – he’d eagerly agreed to help clear James and Cat when Alex had asked him late last night. “You guys all set up?”

“Sure are,” Winn replied, looking like a true professional as he spun around and around in his chair, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “Thanks for the server access. I could’ve gotten in myself, but your way was definitely quicker.”

“Anything else you need from me?” James asked, clearly desperate to help, and Alex suspected he was wracked with guilt over Cat asking him to shut down any stories like the one that had been published, thinking that he’d failed her.

“Not yet,” Alex told him, and his face fell. “But we haven’t really gotten started yet, so that might change. I’ll let you know if we find anything?” Alex didn’t like keeping him in the dark, but until she knew he wasn’t under Cadmus’s influence she wasn’t taking any chances.

“Alright. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

“You really think it could be him?” Winn asked once James had retreated, and Alex sighed as she rubbed a hand across her face, exhausted even though the day had barely begun.

“I don’t know,” she replied with a helpless shrug. “I hope not, but Cadmus have already managed to mess with so many people in our lives – it’s possible they got to him, too.” Winn drummed his fingers restlessly against the desk, and Alex squeezed his shoulder, trying to offer comfort. “Will you help me hide all of this?” Alex gestured towards their Cadmus research, still splashed around the office. “Maggie will be here soon, and I really don’t want her asking why her face is on that board.”

Alex had been tempted to rip down the photo a few times. She no longer suspected Maggie of any Cadmus involvement, especially after she’d saved Kara from Zatanna, but thanks to her contact within Cadmus, for now, on the board she would stay. Better safe than sorry. After so many setbacks, they really couldn’t afford Alex being wrong.

“Why did you ask for her help?” Winn asked, rising to his feet and helping Alex shove everything into the filing cabinets. “If you’re still not sure where she stands in all of this.”

It was a good question, but not one Alex felt comfortable answering.

“I needed another set of eyes.”

“So why not Lucy? Or J’onn? Or Vasquez?”

“They’re busy.”

“Or maybe you’ve just got a soft spot for Maggie Sawyer,” Winn suggested, wiggling his eyebrows and wincing when Alex shoved him hard in the shoulder. “Ow! That was uncalled for.”

“Maybe you should get to work instead of worrying about my relationship with Maggie.”

“Oh, so you admit there’s a relationship there?”

“A _working_ one.”

“That’s what they all say.”

“Shut up, Winn.”

“Make m–ow!”

***

Maggie found Alex easily enough, despite the hustle and bustle of CatCo plaza so early in the morning – she stuck out amongst the women in pantsuits and pencil skirts and high heels. Maggie wondered how it could be so busy on a Sunday, but she supposed the media never really slept.

Alex was leaning against a bench in jeans and a leather jacket, arms folded across her chest and mouth set in a thin line. “Sawyer.” Alex’s face eased into a smile as Maggie reached her side, offering her a coffee and a paper bag of pastries.

“Sorry I’m late. There was a line at the bakery and your sister taught me to never let a Danvers go hungry.”

“Well, I can’t eat quite as much as my sister,” Alex replied, eyes lighting up when she saw the bearclaw within – Kara had told Maggie they were Alex’s favorite, “but thanks.”

“No problem,” Maggie said with a shrug, falling into step beside Alex as she headed for the huge skyscraper with CatCo emblazoned across the top. “So, where are we starting with this?”

“Well, I kind of already made a start. Follow me.”

Maggie took in the vast lobby of the building before following Alex over to the elevators, Cat Grant’s massive influence present everywhere. “Kara did pretty well for herself getting a job here, didn’t she?”

“Yup.” Alex punched the button for the thirty-eighth floor, resting her back against the wall as they began to ascend.

Maggie carefully averted her eyes from the woman whose shoulder brushed against hers, the memory of last night still playing in her memory. She was almost certain that Alex had been close to kissing her last night, as she’d lingered in Maggie’s doorway.

Which meant she definitely shouldn’t be here, working with Alex today, in close quarters, because she could already feel herself falling for her – but then Alex’s eyes would catch hers and Maggie would _forget_.

“Where is everyone?” Maggie asked when the elevator doors opened onto a deserted hall, but Alex merely smiled and beckoned her over to a nondescript door, knocking twice before she shouldered it open.

There was minimal furniture aside from some computer monitors, a single couch, and several locked filing cabinets. Behind them was a board covered with a sheet that looked like it had been hastily pushed aside, and Maggie wondered with idle curiosity what was written across it.

Not that this was the time to pry.

Sitting in front of the monitors was Winn, whom Maggie remembered briefly meeting after they’d rescued Cat. He looked up and waved as they stepped inside, Alex letting the door slip closed behind them.

“What _is_ this place?” Maggie asked, because the tech was pretty impressive.

“ _This_ is where Kara and her superfriends used to do Supergirl stuff when they should have all been working.” Winn made a face, and Maggie smiled. “Maggie, you remember Winn, right? DEO agent and former CatCo IT expert.”

“I’ll never be over the ‘agent’ thing,” Winn said with a grin before glancing towards Maggie. “Nice to see you again, Detective.”

“Likewise.”

“Managed to find anything yet?” Alex asked, leaning over the back of Winn’s chair.

“You know I hate it when you hover over me like that,” he complained, and Maggie got the impression the two of them bickered like siblings. “But yeah, actually. I did.” Maggie wandered over to loom across the other side of his chair. “You two are like, crazy intimidating, you know that?” he said as he glanced between the two of them.

“Winn,” Alex prompted, sounding exasperated. “What’ve you got?”

“Right.” He nodded to himself before turning back to his monitors. “Sooo, I found out which computer ‘Cat’s’” – he drew quotation marks around the name – “article originated from.” Alex stared at him impatiently, and Winn let out a long sigh. “And it was hers. In her office. Which currently belongs to…”

“James,” Alex finished, mouth twisted into a frown. “Dammit.”

“You don’t really suspect him, do you?” Winn asked, looking nervous. “I mean, he’s Superman’s best friend. Supergirl’s almost-boyfriend.” Maggie raised an eyebrow, the information new to her.

“I don’t want to think it could be him but… that would be kind of brilliant. Who would ever suspect him of being biased against aliens when he’s so publically pro-alien?” It was an unsettling thought.

“Okay, except… well, I looked at the timestamp for when it was uploaded?” Winn said, and Alex nodded. “And James was with me that night. We went out for a couple of drinks, didn’t get home until well after midnight, but it was sent to print at around nine.”

“There was no way he could’ve done it through his phone?”

“And you can’t rule out that he wrote it and just asked someone else to upload it,” Maggie added, because they needed to be thorough if they were going to do this properly.

“It was definitely uploaded from that computer,” Winn confirmed. “But it’s possible he could’ve asked Eve or someone else to upload it. He did take a couple calls that night, but I didn’t think anything of it. He’s a busy dude now. Maybe I could…” Winn glanced at Maggie. “Never mind.”

“What?” she asked, and Alex smirked.

“I think he was about to suggest doing something illegal. Like looking into James’s phone records.”

“Alex!” Winn hissed. “She’s a _cop_.”

“Oh, calm down,” Alex rolled her eyes. “She’s not going to arrest you.” She turned her gaze to Maggie. “Right, Sawyer?”

Maggie pursed her lips, drawing the moment out before she cracked a smile. “I guess I can look the other way just this once. If it’ll help you clear your friend, go for it. Just not when I’m in the room.”

Winn nodded, looking relieved.

“And something _less_ illegal we can do,” Maggie added, “if we get into James’s office and get access to his computer, we’ll be able to check who logged into it recently. Find our number one suspect.”

“Not a bad idea,” Alex agreed. “But that might have to wait until after hours – I don’t want to tip him off in case he really has been compromised. It could be dangerous.”

“That can wait til tonight,” Maggie said, nodding. “But in the meantime, you guys got cameras in this place?”

“Yeah, James gave us access to all the security feeds,” Winn told her. “Only issue is that Cat doesn’t have any cameras pointed directly into her office.”

“Isn’t that a security risk?”

Winn just offered her a hapless smile. “That’s Cat for you. Works in a fishbowl, but doesn’t want security seeing what she’s up to. Maybe she had one too many late night rendezvous.” Maggie bit back a smile at the nauseous look that crossed Alex’s face, who was no doubt thinking about Cat and her little sister. “Oh, come on,” Winn said, pouting at Alex. “That one was funny.”

“You’re never funny,” Alex said, grinning when his pout deepened. “And it’s probably a good thing Cat is a little lax with her camera security, otherwise who knows how many times they’d have caught Kara changing into her supersuit.”

“Your sister’s not the most careful superhero, is she?” Maggie remembered Alex’s weary expression as they’d gone through the NDA’s – Alex had probably done that a few more times than she would’ve liked.

“No, she’s really not,” Alex agreed. “Can the cameras at least tell us who was around on the fortieth floor when it was uploaded?”

“One second…” Winn trailed off, tapping away at the keys. “These are the feeds from that night, but it’s gonna take me a while to look through them.”

Alex let out a long sigh.

***

“You certainly look comfortable.” Kara nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice, wondering how many times the Grants were going to sneak up on her over the course of the next few days – Cat’s chuckle told Kara she was rather enjoying the experience.

“I’ve definitely had worse days,” Kara agreed, lifting her sunglasses and resting them on her forehead as she glanced up at Cat. Her breath caught.

Cat was in a white coverup, thin enough to reveal the black bikini beneath it, and Kara’s heart raced when Cat eyed her appreciatively in return.

Kara sat cross legged on a towel in the sand, the crash of the waves on the surf a soothing background noise as she enjoyed a rare chance to relax.

“Can I sit?” Cat asked, nodding at the space beside her, her own towel held loosely in one hand, and how was Kara supposed to survive the day with Cat wearing _that_ and sitting so close?

“Of course.” Cat settled down on the sand, eyes straying towards Carter, who was building an elaborate sand castle down by the surf. “Eliza didn’t tell too many stories about me this morning, did she?”

“Nothing too embarrassing, don’t worry.” Cat’s lips twitched, and she continued to watch her son. “I told her to save those for when you can overhear.” Kara made a face, and Cat’s smile widened. “I hope your work isn’t suffering with you being out here.”

“Snapper thinks I have a family emergency.”

“I bet he was pleased when you asked for time off.”

“Almost as pleased as the sick leave I took last week.” Kara sighed, gaze straying back to the sea. “I’m pretty sure he’s going to fire me.”

“Nonsense. You’re a good reporter, Kara. And he’s a hardass, but… so am I. And you did just fine with me. Outstanding, even.” Kara’s cheeks colored at the praise. “I have every confidence that you’ll continue to be outstanding, even without me there to look over your shoulder.”

“Do you miss it?”

“CatCo?”

“Yeah. It’s… it’s weird without you there. Empty, almost.” Kara didn’t look at Cat as she said it. Instead, she kept her gaze on Carter, the frown of concentration on his face absolutely adorable.

“I miss it every day,” Cat replied, a wistful note to her voice. “But I know I’d be no good to my company right now, especially with…” She trailed off, eyes dark, before she took a deep breath. “And I know that James is doing a fine job in my stead.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty great.”

“But not, apparently, great enough to date?”

“Things changed.” It was as much honesty as Cat was going to get. “ _I_ changed and it just wouldn’t… it wouldn’t have worked out.” She still regretted that things with James had been so rocky lately, and she hoped they could get back to normal sooner rather than later. “Why are you asking?”

“Because, Kara, we can’t have you getting too lax while you’re living this life of leisure,” Cat said, and Kara turned to her with bemusement. “When all this is over and this Cadmus mess is done and dusted, there’s still going to be a job waiting for you back at CatCo, and I need you to be the best that you can be, and do you know what makes an excellent reporter?” Kara shook her head. “Good interview technique.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my technique.” Kara bristled, wounded by the implication.

“I didn’t say that there was, but in my experience, there’s always room for improvement. So go ahead, Kara. Take your best shot.”

“At you?”

“Mm,” Cat agreed, and Kara squirmed a little at the devilish look in Cat’s eyes. “See what you can get me to reveal.” Still, Kara hesitated, and Cat’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “Or I’ll go back into that house of yours and show you how it’s done by grilling your foster mother until there isn’t a single detail from your awkward teenage years that I don’t know.”

“Okay, okay,” Kara relented, because she had done _so_ many mortifying things during her first few years on Earth, none of which Cat ever needed to know about. She shifted on the sand to face Cat, and she willed herself not to get distracted by the sharp lines of Cat’s collarbones, left exposed by the dress she was wearing. “But what should I ask you?”

“Anything you like, Kara. I’m an open book.” Kara very much doubted that was the case, but she didn’t think she’d get an opportunity like this again, and there was so much that Kara could learn, so much she wanted to _ask_ , because when it came to Cat she wanted to learn _everything_.

“Um…”

“Not the best start.” Cat tutted, though her eyes sparkled with amusement as Kara’s cheeks flamed pink. “It’s a two out of ten, at best.”

“I’m thinking! Usually if I was doing an interview I’d be prepared–”

“You’ve only known me for two years. There must be some things you’ve always wanted to ask me.”

There were, but Kara wasn’t entirely sure that the first few that came to mind were appropriate.

“Why did you call me Keira for so long?” she settled on, eventually – it seemed harmless enough, although the guarded expression that crossed Cat’s face suggested otherwise. “I know you knew my real name the whole time.”

“Actually, I did think it was Keira for the first week or so. I misheard you.”

“And when I kept correcting you?”

“I call everyone by the wrong name,” Cat said, waving her off. “It’s impersonal. It keeps people at arm’s length – and reminds them that they are replaceable.”

“And the first time you called me Kara?” She remembered how it made her feel, her heart skipping a beat as she stood in her new office, freshly promoted. “What was going through your mind then?”

“I thought you’d earned it.” Cat’s voice was soft and her gaze even softer, and oh, maybe this was a terrible idea.

“Why did you hire me?”

“Because you impressed me.”

“How?”

“Well I suspect it has a little something to do with those powers of yours.” Cat gave her a meaningful look and Kara flushed, though she didn’t regret using her powers if it had helped her get the job. “But you took me by surprise. I made a snap judgement when you stepped into my office and you… blew that out of the water.”

“Did you think I’d last as long as I did?”

“I didn’t think you’d last the week,” Cat confessed.

“Are you glad I did?”

“Infinitely.”

“When did you know I was Supergirl?”

“You already know that.”

“No, I know when you accused me, but when did you _know_?” Cat smiled, clearly pleased with the question, and Kara tried not to look too thrilled.

“It was… I’d had my suspicions for a long time, but I _knew_ when you hugged me on my balcony before Myriad. Supergirl wore the same perfume, had the same scar, same earrings, same nail polish – you should be a little more careful about that, you know.”

“I’ll try.” Kara looked towards the waves. “Did you hire Siobhan to punish me?” She saw Cat stiffen out of the corner of her eye, and it was a long time before she answered.

“Yes.”

“For hurting Adam?” Cat didn’t answer, and Kara took a deep breath. “For hurting you?” A muscle in Cat’s cheek twitched, and Kara knew she was right. “Is that why you told me things ought to stay strictly professional between us?” Those words still stung, though Kara supposed it was funny, to look at where they were now – about as far from professional as it was possible to get.

“You were right,” Cat murmured, “you are pretty good at this.”

“You didn’t answer my–”

“I think that’s enough for today.”

Kara sighed, but she knew when to admit defeat, especially when it came to Cat. “I have just one more.” Cat opened her mouth, and Kara was quick to clarify before she was shot down again. “It’s not about Adam.”

“Very well then.”

“Do you…” She took a deep breath before trying again. “Do you blame me? For not realizing you were missing sooner? For not… rescuing you sooner?” Her voice cracked, and Cat turned to face her, wariness fading in an instant.

“Oh, Kara, no. God, no.” Kara blinked away her tears before they could form, looking anywhere but Cat’s eyes. “Please tell me you don’t believe that.” Kara bit her lip, and she heard Cat draw in a sharp breath. “Kara, of course I don’t blame you. You saved me.” Kara glanced up and found hazel eyes staring back at her. “That’s all that matters.”

“But I should’ve gotten there soon–”

“You came, and that’s all that matters,” Cat repeated. “It wasn’t your fault, and I don’t blame you.”

“Really?” Kara’s voice cracked again, and Cat breathed her name before there were warm hands reaching for her, Cat’s arms looping around her shoulders to pull Kara close, and she could barely breathe, because Cat was warm and solid and so perfect against her.

“Really,” Cat told her, mouth against her ear, and Kara wished she would never let go.

***

“You think he’s our guy?” Maggie asked as Alex led her to the stairwell, Winn still in the former superfriends office, making sure they stayed off the security cameras as they headed for James’s office.

The building was quiet, the sky dark, and Alex had to admit it felt good to be doing something other than rifling through phone records and looking through security footage. Their search so far had amounted to nothing, and Alex had been impatient to find out who’d uploaded the article and hopefully get a solid lead.

“I don’t know,” Alex replied, shouldering open the door to the fortieth floor as Winn gave her the okay into her earpiece. “But I guess we’re about to find out.”

She walked the familiar path through the bullpen, one she’d taken numerous times over the years when rescuing her sister from a hellish day with lunch and many, many donuts. 

The floor was deserted, but Alex moved quickly as she pressed open the glass door of the office, Maggie following close behind and making a beeline for James’s computer. Alex hovered nearby, keeping one eye on the door in case they had any unexpected visitors.

“Alright, Winn,” Maggie said, fingers poised over the keyboard. “I’m in. Tell me what the hell I’m doing.”

“Um, guys?” Winn’s voice sounded in her ear, just as she heard the telltale whirring of an elevator. “I think we might have a problem.” Alex stepped towards the door of the office, just in time to see Cat’s private elevator arriving at their floor. “It’s–”

“Alex?” James frowned as he stepped out of the elevator to find her standing there with a hand stretching towards her belt. “What is it? Did you find something?” He made his way towards her, and Alex hated the way his face fell when he saw Maggie at his desk over Alex’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“We needed access to your computer,” she told him, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice.

“Why?” he asked, before it dawned on him. “Oh. I’m a suspect.” He nodded, though there was still the sting of betrayal in his eyes. “Should I be worried?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. Yet.” She took a step back into the office towards Maggie. “But the article originated in this office. From that computer.”

James’s eyes widened and he nodded again, knotting his hands in front of him as he lingered in the doorway, both of them waiting for Maggie’s verdict.

“He’s clear,” Maggie said a few moments later, glancing up from the computer with a small smile. Alex watched James sag with relief as the tension drained from her own shoulders.

“You’re the one with the most access,” Alex told him, an apology in her eyes. “You had to be a person of interest. It’s nothing personal.”

“No, I get it.” He still looked a little wounded as he rose to his feet, but Alex knew he’d brush it off soon enough. “You’re just doing your job. But now that I’m in the clear, is there anything I can do to help?”

“That depends.” Alex turned her attention towards Maggie. “Who uploaded the article?”

“You guys know a dude called Snapper Carr?”

***

“You should be sleeping.” Cat startled at the sound of Kara’s voice, having not heard her approach. She was on the Danvers’ deck, listening to the waves crashing into the shore as she sat huddled into an oversized sweater with her feet curled up underneath her.

It was dark out, but the moon was bright enough to keep the shadows that haunted her at bay. There was something about the cool night air and the faint taste of salt on her tongue that soothed her.

“I wasn’t tired,” she said, turning to find Kara standing in the doorway. She’d taken off her glasses and had let her hair down into loose waves that fell around her shoulders, wearing ridiculous animal pajamas that absolutely shouldn’t be that adorable.

“I know you’re lying.” Kara crossed the deck in three short strides, hovering a moment before folding herself onto the bench beside her. “I know you haven’t been sleeping. You’re going to make yourself ill.”

Cat turned her head and saw only concern in Kara’s blue eyes, her eyebrows creased into a worried frown, and Cat ached to smooth it away with the press of her thumb.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

Cat swallowed hard and looked away, watching the wind ruffle the leaves of the palm trees that separated the house from the beach below.

“It’s the nightmares,” she admitted, when it became clear that Kara was here to stay. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. “I can’t… I can’t close my eyes without feeling like I’m back there. Without worrying I’m losing my mind.”

“I should have realized you were gone sooner.” Kara’s look was haunted – clearly their earlier conversation hadn’t eased her mind.

“You can’t blame yourself for not knowing I was missing, Kara. You’d thought I left, and Cadmus were quite convincing in their impersonations of me.” She had seen the messages they had sent to Carter while she’d been locked in a cell, had been sickened that someone would dare pose as her to her son. “Without you I might still be there.”

“But I should’ve–”

“Stop it,” Cat commanded, and Kara’s mouth snapped shut. “We can’t change the past, much as we might wish we could. What happened to me was… horrific, but it happened. And I’ll heal.”

“But you can’t sleep.”

“I’m sure I’ll be exhausted enough to manage it soon.” Cat tried a smile, hoping it would ease some of Kara’s concern, but it didn’t lift her frown. “I’ll be okay,” she promised, her voice soft, because sitting out here, away from it all, she was finally starting to believe that she could be. “And I wanted to thank you. For everything that you’ve done for me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s definitely something.” Cat knew she needed to change the subject before she did something stupid, like lunge across and kiss Kara’s smile right from her mouth. “There was actually something I’ve been wanting to ask you about. Something that’s been bothering me.”

“Oh?” Kara’s expression turned wary. “What’s that?”

“It’s just… the night that Zatanna came for you.” Kara stiffened beside her. “I replied to your text asking to come over and I can only assume you did, considering she must’ve taken you at my apartment for my memories to have gone.”

“She did,” Kara said, her voice quiet enough to almost be carried away by the wind. “She threatened you.” Kara’s fists clenched. “She said she’d kill you if I didn’t go with her willingly.”

“Oh, Kara, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Kara’s smile was bitter. “It’s one of the hazards of being a superhero, I guess – everyone you’re close to becomes a target.” She said it with such certainty, such finality, and Cat’s heart broke for her. Kara’s eyes met hers, and something dark danced within their depths. “Maybe you’d be better off staying away from me.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m never safer than when I’m by your side – I know you’ll always protect me.” Kara drew in a soft breath, and Cat found herself drowning in those blue, blue eyes, found herself reaching for Kara’s hands and taking them between her own. “You haven’t let me down yet, Supergirl.” Kara smiled, and Cat echoed it with one of her own. “Something tells me you’re not going to start any time soon.”

“I don’t plan on it.”

“Good to know.” Kara’s hands were warm in her own, warding off the chill in the air. “About that night…” Again, Kara stiffened, and Cat wondered what she wasn’t telling her. “I can’t… I can’t remember what happened when you came over.” She hated that gap in her knowledge, hated that there was a moment with Kara she had zero recollection of. “You seemed upset in your texts.”

“I was,” she admitted quietly, “but you helped.” Cat sensed there was more to the story – it was in the tension that radiated from her, from the pulse Cat could feel racing beneath her fingertips.

“Did something… did something else happen?”

“No, Zatanna showed up pretty soon after we talked.” Cat could tell it was a lie, but she decided to let it go, at least for now. Perhaps Cat had made a fool out of herself, and Kara didn’t want her to remember it, or perhaps Kara had done something she’d rather forget.

They fell into a comfortable silence, just listening to the roar of the ocean, their hands still intertwined.

“Come on,” Kara urged when she noticed Cat smothering a yawn with the back of her hand, “you should at least try and get some sleep.” Cat didn’t protest, though she knew it was futile – she’d sleep for a handful of hours, if she was lucky, only to be awoken by a nightmare that would leave her cold.

But she didn’t have the heart to say no to Kara, so she let her lead her inside and up the stairs, and didn’t comment on the fact that Kara had yet to let go of her hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked, when Kara headed for her bedroom instead of the guest room down the hall where Cat had spent her first night.

Kara looked nervous, her palms a little damp, and Cat could see the courage it took for her to open her mouth.

“You have nightmares because you think you’re back there, right? Because it’s dark and you’re alone?” Kara ducked her head as she spoke, staring at the floor. “Well, maybe if you’re not alone you won’t have nightmares. Maybe I can keep them at bay.”

It was a risky offer – they’d already strayed so far away from safe territory, from boss-employee, from _friends_ – but Cat couldn’t say no.

The bedroom door shut behind them with a loud click, but it didn’t break the spell as Kara tugged her over to the double bed in the center of the room within, Kara’s fingertips trembling as she gripped Cat’s hand tightly.

Cat paused to take in the room where Kara had grown up. Dozens of photographs were splashed across the walls, similar to those that lined the staircase that Cat had spent several long moments studying as she’d made her way into the Danvers’ kitchen yesterday morning, snapshots of dozen of memories of Kara’s over the years.

“Which side do you want?” Kara asked. The room was dark, despite the moonlight that filtered through the closed blinds of the huge bay window. Cat imagined Kara with her face pressed up against that glass, gazing at the stars and trying to find her lost world in the sky.

“Whichever,” Cat replied, and Kara nodded as she pulled back the covers.

“Well I usually take the left, so.” Kara slipped beneath the sheets and Cat swallowed at the intimacy of the moment, at the significance of Kara inviting her to spend the night in her bed.

Cat’s hands shook as she slid under the covers. She could feel the heat of Kara’s body beneath the sheets, craved to reach out and draw her close and never let go.

“Night, Cat,” Kara murmured, and Cat turned to face her, breath catching a little at the sight of her, hair splayed across the pillow, eyes bright and soft in the muted darkness around them.

“Good night, Kara.” Kara’s hand found hers and squeezed, didn’t let go even when Cat closed her eyes, and that night, huddled under the covers with Kara warm at her side, Cat slept more soundly than she could remember in a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For these brilliant editors, much thanks:  
> catherinegrant ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinegrant) | [tumblr](http://catherinegrant.tumblr.com/ask)),@spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)), @Revolos55 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Revolos55/pseuds/Revolos55) | [tumblr](http://saunteringvaguelydownwards.tumblr.com/ask)), and @musetotheworld ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/musetotheworld) | [tumblr](http://musetotheworld.tumblr.com/ask))


	9. Act V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on Supergirl Virtual Season...

And with that, we were all deceased. Thanks, @pinkrabbitpro. Direct your praise to the comments below or [Tumblr ask](http://pinkrabbitpro.tumblr.com/ask). 


	10. Act V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex finally makes a move, and Cat feels better than ever as it’s revealed that she had nothing to do with the Supergirl article; cleared, she and Kara prepare to make their way back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @xy0009 brings us this week’s pretty with the title image: ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

Kara woke with a warm body pressed against her front and a face full of blonde hair.

She froze, memories of last night flashing through her mind – glancing out the window to see Cat on the deck below and going outside to meet her, panicking as Cat had asked about the night Kara had gone missing, debating whether or not she should tell Cat about the kiss, and had she really been bold enough to invite Cat to spend the night with her in her bed?

And had Cat really said yes?

Kara had assumed Cat would write their kiss off as a mistake, as a one-time thing or a lapse in judgement – now, with Cat wrapped in her arms, she wondered if the true mistake was not coming clean about what had happened between them the other night.

She felt guilty every time she thought about it. Guilty for letting it happen in the first place, and even guiltier for lying about it, especially after Cat had shown complete faith in giving her access to CatCo. Cat trusted her completely, and yet Kara was knowingly deceiving her by not telling her about their kiss.

What would Cat say when she found out the truth?

Thinking about it made her uneasy.

Cat was still fast asleep, eyes closed and breathing even, and Kara almost wanted to pinch herself to prove that the moment was real, that last night had actually happened.

As Kara tried to extricate herself from her current position – an arm wrapped around Cat’s waist, and Cat’s hand settled on top her own (and Rao, if it didn’t feel amazing, if she didn’t crave a lifetime of waking up exactly like this, and she _really_ should have kept her mouth shut last night and let Cat carry on down the hall) – she realized something else.

She could hear the sound of Cat’s heartbeat, could feel every contour of Cat’s fingertips where they pressed against her skin, could smell Cat’s shampoo as well as the breakfast that the neighbors down the street were cooking.

Her powers were back, and Kara could feel the ripple of strength they brought with them as she carefully freed her arm. Cat’s heartbeat spiked, and Kara cursed herself for waking her.

She didn’t know if she could survive seeing Cat wake up, blinking sleep out of her eyes and turning to Kara with tousled hair, and go back to just being friends. Not when she knew what Cat looked like still half-asleep.

So when Cat didn’t stir, aside from her now racing heartbeat, Kara took the coward’s way out and slid out of the bed, deliberately not looking back as she slipped through her bedroom door–

And came face to face with Eliza, emerging from the bathroom across the hall.

Who glanced into the room before Kara closed the door, eyebrows shooting up when she saw that the bed behind her daughter was not, in fact, empty.

Kara pulled the door shut as silently as possible, wincing as Eliza jerked her head down the hall, indicating that Kara should follow.

“Something you want to tell me?” Eliza asked, eyebrows still raised as she cornered Kara in the kitchen once they were downstairs, and Kara swallowed hard and drummed her fingers on the counter, forgetting for a moment that her powers were back until the countertop creaked beneath her grip. “Kara?”

“Nothing happened!” She said it so quickly that it sounded like a lie, and she flushed pink as Eliza gave her a _look_ over the rim of her coffee mug. “It didn’t, she just… she hasn’t been sleeping because she’s been having nightmares and I… I don’t know.” Kara shrugged and looked away from Eliza’s searching gaze. “I thought that maybe she wouldn’t if she didn’t sleep alone.”

“Out of the goodness of your heart?” Eliza asked, and Kara’s blush deepened. “You know it’s okay, Kara. If there is something there.” Eliza’s voice was soft, her eyes earnest when Kara lifted her head.

“You really think that?” It wasn’t like Eliza hadn’t always been supportive, it was just… Cat wasn’t exactly Kara’s equal, in any sense of the word.

“I had some reservations in the beginning,” she said as she shrugged, eyeing Kara thoughtfully. “How could I not, all things considered? But watching the two of you together, it’s… I wouldn’t stand in the way of that. The way she looks at you, when she thinks no one else is watching? She’s crazy about you, and if she makes you happy, then that’s good enough for me.”

“Really?” Kara was touched by the words, her heart beating fast as she dared to wonder whether, considering the forgotten kiss, Cat would still feel the same way. “But being with me isn’t a walk in the park – I put people in danger. Cadmus took Cat once already, because of who she is, but can you imagine what they’d do to her if they knew what she meant to me?” She shuddered. “You lost Jeremiah because of me, would–”

“Is that what you think?” Eliza cut her off, eyebrows drawing into a frown. “That what happened to him was your fault?”

“He wouldn’t have joined the DEO if not for me.” Kara still didn’t look up, focusing instead on the marble countertop. “Cadmus wouldn’t have him if I hadn’t come to live here.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Eliza was across the room in a flash, coffee mug clattering onto the counter as she gathered Kara into a hug. “You mustn’t blame yourself for that.” Eliza’s voice was as fierce as the grip she had around Kara’s shoulders, and Kara blinked away tears as she carefully returned the embrace. “No matter what happened – or what happens, I know that he wouldn’t regret a thing, Kara. Least of all the day you came to live with us. He loved you, would’ve done anything for you, and if he could go back in time and do it all over again, I doubt he’d change a thing.”

Kara felt a tear fall, and she blinked back more as a sob built in her chest, her guilt over what had happened to Jeremiah still sitting heavy on her shoulders.

“And you shouldn’t let fear hold you back from living your life.” It was eerily similar to what Alex had said when Kara had told her about Cat, and she wondered if she and Eliza had been talking about her. “Maybe right now isn’t the best time,” Eliza continued, and Kara managed a small laugh, because that was quite the understatement. “But you shouldn’t write things off completely. You can have both, be the hero and get the girl.”

Kara thought of her cousin, hoping maybe one day she’d be lucky enough to have that, too.

She wondered if Cat could be her Lois Lane – not that Cat would like the comparison.

Distantly, Kara heard footsteps moving down the hall and towards the stairs, and she leaned away from Eliza, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her pajama shirt. There was no hiding that she’d been crying, but she could at least make herself look a little more presentable by the time Cat made it to the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Was the first thing out of Cat’s mouth when she stepped into the room, eyeing Kara with no small amount of concern. She’d changed out of the clothes she’d been wearing last night, but her face was still soft with sleep, and Kara ached at the sight of her.

“I’m fine.” She offered Cat a slightly watery smile as Eliza rubbed a hand across the small of Kara’s back. “I’m going to go clean myself up – can we make pancakes again today?” She directed that at Eliza, expression hopeful. “And do you have enough eggs to make, like, twenty?”

“I knew you were coming, Kara. I stocked up the kitchen.” Kara grinned, and Cat chuckled as she edged further into the room and took a seat at the counter. “Does that mean what I think it means?” Eliza added.

“That I’m no longer human?” Kara grinned, lifting herself several feet off the ground. Elation crackled through her veins, and she longed to be outside, to hurl herself into the sky and fly across the ocean, dangling her hands in the water as she sped by. “Yep!”

“No powers in the house,” Eliza scolded, the rule implemented after Kara’s run-in with the popcorn maker, but there was little bite to the words, and she smiled as she turned towards the refrigerator.

Kara dropped to the floor all the same, landing lightly on her feet before padding up the stairs for a lightning quick shower. She ran into Carter in the hallway, realizing too late that she didn’t have her glasses on, and that her hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders.

“Morning, Kara,” he chirped as he passed by, and Kara wondered if she was imagining the knowing glint in his eye.

***

Maggie and Alex spent twenty-four hours tailing Snapper Carr to see if he led them any closer to Cadmus before Alex grew frustrated and brought him to the DEO, letting Maggie tag along for the questioning.

They bundled him into one of the lower offices in the DEO skyscraper, the ones designed to look like an FBI field office.

“He talking?” Maggie heard, jumping as she stepped out the interrogation room to come face-to-face with James Olsen.

“Oh, he’s talking,” Alex muttered as she followed Maggie out, letting the door swing closed behind her. “In fact, he won’t shut up.” James was holding two coffees, and Alex took one without even asking. He held the other out towards Maggie, and she smiled gratefully as she took it, needing it after the long day she’d had.

She wondered if she now classed as a member of the superfriends.

“He was horrified to find out what he’d done,” Alex told James as she threw herself into a nearby chair, Maggie trailing in their wake. “Wouldn’t shut up about media bias and how he couldn’t believe this had happened to him. I don’t think he has the faintest idea what Cadmus truly is, never mind what they’re planning.”

Maggie had watched Alex get more and more worked up as the day had worn on and Snapper proved to be far less helpful than they had hoped.

Who knew what Alex might do to Maggie, if she knew how deep her involvement with Cadmus ran? Maggie’s coffee suddenly tasted bitter on her tongue.

“He’s useless then?” James asked, his voice laced with sympathy.

“Completely,” Alex confirmed, tilting her head back until it rested against the wall. “I think he was just a hasty backup in case their grand plan for Cat didn’t work out. Winn found the footage of them snatching him up – he was only gone for a few hours, so we’re hoping whatever it was isn’t too long lasting.”

“What are you gonna do with him?” Maggie asked, intensely curious about what the DEO did with human prisoners they suspected of being on Cadmus’s radar.

“J’onn’s going to do some work with him,” Alex told her, “try to get him to regain the memories that he’s lost. We’re hoping that’ll help him fight his bias, make sure that nothing like this happens again. And maybe he’ll remember something useful after all.”

“Do you think there could be another mole at CatCo?” James looked troubled as he glanced at Alex, and Maggie suspected this had really shaken him.

“I don’t know.” Alex ran a hand through her hair, and Maggie noted the way her fingers trembled, wondered if there was an underlying reason Alex was so desperate to learn more about Cadmus. “But we’ll keep an eye on all the media channels, see what happens over the next few days.”

“I’ll try and do my bit, too.”

“Thanks.” Alex’s smile was warm. “And sorry again, about yesterday.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” James clambered to his feet and smoothed down the front of his shirt. “I’d better get back to the office. I have a few more things to do before I can head home for the night.”

“Being CEO not all fun and games?” Alex teased, and James grinned back before he made his way down the hall.

“Nope,” he called over his shoulder, “but it sure as hell pays well.” Alex smiled as she watched him leave.

Maggie didn’t know how much longer she could do this, stick by Alex’s side and pretend like everything was fine when on the inside, she felt like a traitor. How long before either Cadmus or her captain found out the depth of her involvement here, and asked her to do something about it? What would she do, if she had to choose between her aunt and Alex?

The thought made her sick.

“You okay, Sawyer?” Alex frowned at her, and Maggie cursed herself for letting her emotions play across her face. Somehow Alex managed to read her like a book, no matter how guarded she tried to be.

“Just tired,” she lied, and she felt terrible when Alex looked at the time and immediately apologized.

“Oh, shit, sorry – I didn’t even realize how late it was. Let me just get one of the lab techs to take care of Snapper and I’ll walk you out?”

Maggie didn’t have the heart to say no.

“Sure.”

“Be right back.” Maggie watched her go, and told herself that after tonight, she was going to limit her interactions with Alex Danvers.

It would hurt, but she could deal with the heartbreak if it meant keeping Alex safe.

When Alex returned they walked side by side to the exit, the occasional brushing of their arms sending shockwaves through Maggie’s entire body, and when Alex turned to her once they were outside, her eyes sparkling in the streetlights, Maggie could barely remember how to breathe.

“Thank you for doing this,” Alex said, her voice soft. “I appreciate your help.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Maggie pushed her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. “Happy to help you out.”

“Still, after the way I treated you last time–”

“Your sister was in trouble,” Maggie cut her off, unable to bear another apology, not when all Maggie had done was lie to her face. “I get it.”

“You got a sister?”

“Not one that I see regularly,” Maggie admitted, deciding to spare Alex the story of her miserable childhood. “But I have an aunt that means the world to me, and if anything ever happened to her…” Her throat was tight and her eyes stung with tears. “Family comes first.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Danvers. Don’t get too soft on me.” She meant for it to be light, teasing, to take some of the attention away from her watery eyes, but then Alex’s gaze sharpened.

“I think it’s a little too late for that.” It was barely a whisper, but Maggie still heard, Alex’s voice filled with such vulnerability.

Maggie ached to say ‘it’s too late for me too,’ because god, it _was_ , she was in so deep and with the worst _possible_ woman and why was her life such a big cosmic joke?

It was going to hurt like hell to shut Alex down but she knew she _had_ to, had to put an end to this, had to make Alex want to stay away from her. All of her exes had called her cold and heartless, so why shouldn’t Alex think the same?

Except before she could speak Alex was moving closer, and Maggie froze as Alex’s hands curled into the lapels of her jacket and she pulled her close. And then Alex was leaning down and Maggie’s eyes fluttered shut at the first brush of Alex’s lips against hers and oh, fuck, Alex Danvers was going to be the death of her.

Maggie had assumed she would have to make the first move, had expected Alex to be hesitant, but there was no hesitance in the way Alex kissed her, lips soft and her mouth warm. It would be so, so easy to just… let herself go.

To wrap her arms around Alex’s waist and drown.

But she _couldn’t_.

So she stiffened instead, and it was barely a few seconds before Alex pulled back, a horrified look in her eyes. It broke Maggie’s heart to hurt Alex, but she knew that her betrayal would hurt so much more in the long run.

“I’m so sorry.” Alex looked mortified, and she was already scrambling away from Maggie, one hand lifting to her mouth, cheeks flaming red. “I didn’t… I thought that… I read this so completely wrong oh my god–”

“I’m sorry, Alex” – Maggie’s tongue felt leaden, and she could barely force out the words – “if I gave you the wrong impression. I like you, and I like working with you, but I… I don’t feel that way about you.” She watched Alex’s face fall, and her heart shattered into pieces.

“No, god, Maggie, you don’t need to apologize.” Alex spoke the words in a rush, eyes darting around like she was desperately looking for an escape route, face turning ashen. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s okay–”

“It’s not.” Alex shook her head almost violently, and Maggie wished she could take everything back, wished she hadn’t even met Alex in the warehouse that day, because then they wouldn’t be here, and she wouldn’t be hurting a woman she was pretty sure she could fall in love with. “I… I have to go.”

“Alex–” Maggie reached for Alex’s arm – she didn’t know what she was going to say, what she _could_ say, to make this sting any less, just that she had to _try_ – but Alex shook her off before disappearing down the street.

Maggie stood staring at the spot where Alex had vanished. The night air seeped into her skin until she could feel it in her bones, her tears flowing too fast for her to wipe them away.

She had a feeling she wouldn’t be seeing Alex Danvers for a long, long time.

It was for the best, but it still left her cold.

Maggie clenched her hands until nails bit into her palms. She hated herself for having to do this, for hurting Alex, but most of all she hated Cadmus. It was bad enough they were meddling in her life, keeping her under their thumb, but for Alex to be affected by this too?

Maggie vowed that one day soon, she’d get her revenge. She didn’t know when, and she had no idea _how_ , but she would.

She had to, because she couldn’t keep doing this, keep working for them, much longer.

***

“I can’t believe it was Snapper,” Kara muttered, scooping up another handful of popcorn. She was already halfway through a bag, enjoying her metabolism being back to normal, the cool night air as she sat on the deck not affecting her in the slightest. “After all the crap he gave me about ‘sticking to the facts’ and ‘not letting my own bias tell the story for me.’”

“If it helps at all,” Alex replied, and Kara frowned as she heard the clink of ice in a glass from the other end of the line, “I think he was mortified about the whole thing.”

“But he’s okay?”

“Your asshole boss lives to write another day, yes.” Kara wondered if it made her a bad person, to wish he was out of commission for a little while. “It’s possible there may be more, but I don’t think so.”

“So Cat’s in the clear?”

“Looks like.” Kara breathed out a sigh of relief. Even though she had been doubtful that Cadmus had been able to break Cat, she was glad for the confirmation, glad Cat was in the clear and this wouldn’t set her back on her recovery. “Made a move on her yet?”

“No, Alex.” Kara rolled her eyes. “And I’m not going to. At least… not yet.” Eliza’s earlier words of encouragement were still ringing in her mind, but she was so scared of putting Cat in danger.

“Maybe that’s for the best.” Alex’s voice was tight. Kara heard her take a gulp of whatever she had a glass of, and she frowned.

“Alex? Are you okay?” Long moments ticked by where the only sound was Alex’s breathing, and when Kara heard it hitch she knew her sister was crying. “Alex?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Kara kept her voice soft, wishing she weren’t so many miles away, wishing she could just draw Alex into a hug and not let her go. “What is it?”

“I… I kissed Maggie.” Alex laughed, but it was choked, bitter, and Kara’s heart broke for her – she knew Alex didn’t let her walls down easily, had rarely seen her interested in anyone, but Maggie… she didn’t know if she’d ever seen Alex light up around anyone else quite like that. “I kissed her and she told me that she didn’t see me that way and we were better off as friends. God, I’m such an _idiot_.”

“No, you’re not.” In fact, Kara had seen how Maggie looked at her sister, and there was no way she didn’t feel _something_. “Do you want me to come over? I can be there in ten minutes.”

She was already halfway out of her chair when Alex’s voice stopped her. “No, you don’t need to do that. I’m okay.”

“You’re not.”

“No.” Alex sighed, and Kara grimaced when she heard Alex pour herself another drink. “I’m not. But I will be – I’m just going to watch terrible horror movies until I pass out on my couch.”

“Alex…” She’d worried about her sister’s drinking in the past, because before Alex had joined the DEO she loved nothing more than trying to lose herself at the bottom of a bottle, and Kara hated the thought of her sitting in an empty apartment feeling alone. “I can stay on the phone with you for a while, if you want.”

“You should go and be with Mom, spend some more time with Cat and Carter. I’ll be okay, I promise.”

“I’ll still call you later.” Kara didn’t want to hang up, but knew how stubborn Alex could be. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And Maggie’s an idiot if she doesn’t see how amazing you are.” She heard Alex’s voice hitch again, and Kara hoped she hadn’t made her cry. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

***

“Alex and Maggie found the CatCo mole.” Kara stepped back into the living room, and Cat glanced up from the scrabble board she’d been examining. Cat may have met her match in Eliza Danvers, much to Carter’s glee. “And it’s definitely not you.”

Cat’s heart leapt. She’d resolved herself to stop playing the victim and fight back against Cadmus, but she couldn’t deny that a part of her had still been worried what Alex Danvers might uncover at her company, terrified that she might be involved, whether she could remember it or not.

“Oh?” Cat said, feigning nonchalance as Kara strolled into the room and settled on the couch, before reaching for a cushion and pulling it into her lap. “Who was it?”

“Snapper.” Cat’s eyes widened. “Alex thinks he was their insurance plan if you didn’t work out.”

“He would be able to imitate my writing fairly well,” Cat mused. “He’s certainly been working for me long enough, one way or another. Is he all right?”

“He’s fine,” Kara said, and Cat chuckled at the note of half-disappointment in her voice. “I’m sure he’ll be back in the office on Monday, ready to yell at me some more.” She made a face, and Cat wondered if Kara missed working for her, though she knew she wasn’t the world’s easiest boss. She still thought it was a miracle Kara had managed two years at her side, through all of her ups and downs, and was still _here_ , looking down at her with soft eyes.

“James is issuing a statement distancing CatCo from the article,” Kara continued. “Saying that it wasn’t really you.”

“So my public endorsement of Supergirl still stands?” Cat asked, and Kara nodded. “Good.” Kara gave a weak smile, but her hands were playing with the frayed edges of the cushion like something was on her mind.

“Are you okay, Kara?” Eliza asked, frowning as she looked towards her foster daughter.

“Yeah, it’s just Alex. She was a little upset about something, but I think she’ll be okay.” Kara’s face was anxious, though.

“You could go to her, if you wanted,” Cat suggested. “Carter and I will be fine here for the night, and we can head back to National City in the morning.”

As much as she was enjoying the impromptu vacation in Midvale, their reasons for being here – the CatCo investigation and Kara’s lack of powers – were resolved, and Kara (and Cat, for she suspected that she too would have a role in what was coming) had a war to fight.

“It’s okay,” Kara said, shaking her head. “She told me to stay – I don’t think she wants the company. I’ll call her later, see how she’s doing. And I’ll go and check on her tomorrow when we get back.” Cat liked the ‘we’ part of that sentence far more than she should. “Who’s winning?” Kara asked, nodding towards the forgotten game on the coffee table.

“It’s really close,” Carter told her, shuffling a little closer to Kara on the couch, and Cat almost melted when he rested his head on Kara’s shoulder. “I think my mom might finally get beaten.”

“We’re not finished,” Cat protested, turning back to the game and the few letters that were left. “Don’t count me out yet.”

“You can help me keep score,” Carter told Kara, and Cat smiled, pleased that the two of them were getting along so well.

In the end, Eliza narrowly won out, Carter whooping as Kara read out the final scores.

“I think it’s bedtime for you, Carter,” Cat said when she caught him yawning, ignoring his protests as she herded him up the stairs.

“Can we come back here soon, Mom?” he asked once he was settled under the covers, his book in his hands after he’d promised he’d only read a chapter before he went to sleep.

“I hope so, sweetheart.” She liked it here – the tranquillity of the ocean, the _homeliness_ of the place, the love that seemed to seep into the walls, the memories that were held within it. “I hope so.”

She made him promise again not to stay up too late before she returned downstairs, finding the two Danvers women curled up on the couch, watching the news.

Kara’s mouth was downturned, and her eyes were swimming with tears. Cat settled into a chair and felt ill when she saw the headline, a story about aliens being herded up and imprisoned halfway around the world, being executed for simply being _different_.

Eliza pulled Kara into a hug, and silent tears ran down Kara’s cheeks as she cried over the state of the world she lived in, no doubt wondering what might have happened to her had she not ended up with the Danvers.

The story was barely over when the screen went static, and Cat recognized Cadmus’s signature even before their logo appeared.

The message was much the same as the others – aliens must be destroyed, and the world would be safer without them – but in the wake of such a chilling story it seemed to have a much further reach.

Eliza grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, but the broadcast still lingered in the air like poison. It had been easy to forget what was happening outside these four walls, sequestered as they had been, easy to forget that a battle still raged on, that Cadmus was still a threat looming ominously on the horizon.

“You’re going to get them, Kara,” Eliza said, squeezing her daughter tighter.

“And I’m going to make them pay.”

***

Ever since Cadmus, Cat was used to waking up in the middle of the night.

Usually she woke up screaming, drenched in sweat and shaking, torn from sleep by a nightmare that left her in ruins.

What she _wasn’t_ used to was being startled awake due to the movement of a warm body next to her.

Cat blinked her eyes open to the ceiling of the guest room, the room dark save for the light of the moon. It had been Kara who’d needed the comfort of a friend tonight, and it had been Cat who’d taken Kara’s hand and led her here.

She’d managed her first true full night’s sleep in weeks, last night in Kara’s arms.

Cat shifted in the bed, breath catching when she got a glimpse of Kara, spread out beside her.

She looked peaceful in sleep, less like she carried the weight of worlds on her shoulders, her hair fanned out across the pillow.

She was beautiful, and Cat could scarcely believe she was lying next to her.

Cat was waiting for it all to come crashing down, because that was inevitably what always happened. She seemed to burn everyone she touched, save for her son, and Cat was waiting for the day that Kara woke up and realized she would be better off keeping her distance.

But for now Kara was here, warm by her side, and yesterday morning she’d been wrapped around Cat like a blanket, Cat having felt the ghost of Kara’s arms the rest of the day, so maybe Cat should allow herself to enjoy this while she could.

Because tomorrow they would be leaving Midvale, this place of sanctuary, and returning home. Who knew when Cat would get an opportunity like this again? To have Kara so intimately close, only a scant few inches and the thin material of their pajamas separating their skin.

They would have to talk about this at some point, but it wasn’t a conversation Cat was ready for – and judging from the way Kara had slipped from the bed the previous morning, Cat suspected she wasn’t, either.

Cat would duck out in the morning if she woke first, she decided, but for now she was content to revel in this feeling. She closed her eyes and dropped her head back onto the pillow, smiling when, just a few moments later, Kara slid a warm arm around her waist and pulled her close.

It might not mean as much than if Kara were awake and not just seeking out the body heat beside her, but it still made Cat’s heart race as she relaxed into the embrace, and this, this was much safer than talking, and feelings, and laying her emotions out on the line.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile on her face, knowing that for the second time in two nights, her dreams would be filled with a sunny smile and blue, blue eyes, their light enough to chase away the shadows.

***

“You could come back with us, you know,” Kara said in Eliza’s ear as she hugged her foster mother goodbye the next morning.

It was early, the sun still rising, but the mood was uneasy after yesterday’s broadcast. Kara had spent the night wrapped around Cat once again, but this morning it was Cat who had been the first to get out of bed.

She doesn’t know what it might mean for their relationship moving forward, what new dynamic this might bring – if it even changed anything at all, because so far they were yet to talk about it, and Kara was terrified of what might happen if she were to bring it up.

Her feelings for Cat grew with each passing day, and it was all well and good to admit them to herself (and her sister, and her mother – and probably Lucy, because she was getting at least five texts a day from the woman demanding that Kara tell her _everything_ ), but admitting them to _Cat_? That made it _real_ , and Kara didn’t know if she was ready for that.

“You could come back and help at the DEO,” Kara suggested.

“I think I’m better off here, out of the way,” Eliza replied.

“That’s what I’m _worried_ about. You’re out here on your own – what happens if Cadmus come after you?”

“I’ll be careful,” Eliza promised, tucking a strand of hair that had escaped from Kara’s ponytail behind her ear. “And I’ll come to visit you soon. If you get any closer to finding your father…” Her voice was tight, and Kara knew what it was like, to think someone was gone only for them to return. She thought of Astra with an ache in her chest and hoped Eliza’s story would have a happier ending.

“I’ll let you know.”

“Okay.” Eliza gave her one last squeeze before stepping under the shadow of the porch. “You should get on the road. Let me know when you get home safe.”

“I will.” Kara threw a wave over her shoulder as she headed towards the car, Cat and Carter already settled inside.

Cat had her elbow propped on the open window, her chin resting in her hand. The sun rising over the sea cast her in a glow of red and gold, a smile on her mouth and in her eyes as Kara slid into the passenger seat beside her.

As they drove, the same news story from last night came on the radio, and Cat changed the station. The new one was country music, which Kara adored but knew Cat hated, and she felt a flood of gratitude as she turned to glance Cat’s way.

Cat was staring straight ahead but had only one hand on the wheel, the other resting in her lap, and Kara reached across to tangle Cat’s fingers with her own.

Cat stilled, her heartbeat spiking as her breath caught, but she didn’t move away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For these brilliant editors, much thanks:  
> catherinegrant ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinegrant) | [tumblr](http://catherinegrant.tumblr.com/ask)),@spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)), @Revolos55 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Revolos55/pseuds/Revolos55) | [tumblr](http://saunteringvaguelydownwards.tumblr.com/ask)), and @musetotheworld ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/musetotheworld) | [tumblr](http://musetotheworld.tumblr.com/ask))


	11. Next week on episode 6 (Drown)

---  
  
## NEXT WEEK ON SUPERGIRL VIRTUAL SEASON!

When Scorcher returns, Maggie’s secrets begin to unravel and Alex learns the truth.

Cat and Kara partner up for an investigation into the NCPD that could have deadly consequences.

And Cadmus comes for M’gann and the bar.

Don’t miss episode 6 - Drown by @inspectorboxer, @fictorium and @zennie_fic! Beginning Monday on the [Supergirl Virtual Season](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sgvirtualseason)! 

More gif wizardry from @reginalovesemma ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/reginalovesemma) | [tumblr](http://reginalovesemma.tumblr.com)) for the lovely gifset!! You can leave comments about it here, or hit the [tumblr ask box](http://reginalovesemma.tumblr.com/ask). 


	12. Bonus gifs from mitski

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An embarrassment of riches this week  
  
---  
  
##  **Previously on Supergirl Virtual Season...**

Check out this gorgeous gifset from [@mitski](https://tmblr.co/mKQy7dCT94ZQFIZXWONbp4g) who captured this scene from episode 5 beautifully. Leave her some love in her [ask box](http://mitski.tumblr.com/ask) or on Ao3.

_“I…” Kara stared at her hands so hard that had she had her powers, she might’ve set them alight. She chanced a look up at her sister, and found only warm encouragement staring back at her. “Well, we, um, we kind of kissed?”_

_The words rushed out of Kara quickly, but Alex’s quiet gasp was confirmation enough that she understood._

_“You don’t have something to say about that?” Kara pressed, narrowing her eyes at her sister, but Alex merely lifted her shoulders in a shrug._

_“Honestly? I kind of expected something like this might happen, sooner rather than later. You’re not exactly subtle when you have feelings for someone, Kara.”_

_“Oh.” The reveal was a little less climactic than Kara had expected, but she supposed she shouldn’t complain._

_“So, what was it like? Was it not good? Is that why she didn’t want to see you? She did kiss you back, right?” Alex’s face shifted from curiosity to something fiercer. “Because I’ve seen the way she looks at you – that feeling is definitely mutual. She didn’t break your heart, did she? Because I can–”_

_“No, Alex.” Kara cut her sister off with a small shake of her head, a soft smile on her mouth – she hadn’t expected Alex to be so supportive after almost two years of Kara bemoaning Cat’s latest outlandish work request, and she’d assumed it would take some time to talk Alex into being okay with it._

_It was a relief to find out Alex was already there._

_“It… it was perfect,” Kara continued as she remembered the way it had felt to have Cat in her arms. “But it doesn’t matter how perfect it was, because Cat doesn’t remember it, thanks to Zatanna.”_

_“Shit.”_

_“Yeah, that sums it up pretty nicely.” Kara sighed, letting the cushion fall from her grip._

**[Read episode 5](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11463600/chapters/25701051) by [@ofendlesswonder](https://tmblr.co/mJVHGkpmzghqMiePMOc2mkQ) now or [start from the beginning](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11055090/chapters/24647823) of the [@sgvs](https://tmblr.co/mKQfl-0XPuSbBTX5L5SRYFw)!**   



	13. BONUS: Sanvers kiss by supergaysupercat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex plucks up the courage to kiss Maggie...

  
  


How amazing is this art by @supergaysupercat? Hit the comments or the [ask box](http://supergaysupercat.tumblr.com/ask) please and share your feelings!


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